


Definitely, Maybe

by insideabunker



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Consensual Underage Sex, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Teen Romance, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:54:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7304056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insideabunker/pseuds/insideabunker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At her wedding, Clarke's oldest friends take turns telling the story of how the happy couple met as children, and ended up together.  But, which childhood friend is Clarke marrying exactly?  Follow Clarke, Bellamy, Lexa, Monty, Octavia, Lincoln, Raven, Finn, and Jasper on a journey from adolescence to adulthood, with plenty of angst and heartache alone the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody, just a heads up that this fic is going to feature Clarke paired with both Bellamy and Lexa at different points. I can't not making any guarantees about who she ends up with. Feedback is always welcome!
> 
> Also...
> 
> While I make the final decisions about where the story goes, I also love getting feedback, and I am always open to your suggestions. If you guys have strong feelings/ideas about where you're hoping the story goes, let me know! The best way to reach me is via Twitter, since I get those updates on my phone and it's easy for me to response right away: https://twitter.com/insideabunker
> 
> However, you can also leave comments on here, or hit me up on Tumblr: http://insideabunker.tumblr.com/ Love seeing those messages in my inbox ;)
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy the story!  
> Cheers!

As the wedding reception came into full swing under the twinkling lights of the big tent, the guests were reminded of a single, universal truth: In spite of all the odds, nobody imagines, on their wedding day, that they might not stay together. On their wedding days, all people believe that they’ll be the ones to live happily ever after. And, in the big tent, under the twinkling lights, that felt especially possible for the couple swaying to the music of their first dance.

Monty smiled as he watched his friends holding one another, and rocking slowly to the music. A blonde in a long cerulean dress set a beer down next to him, and took a seat beside him, wrapping her hands around his left arm, and leaning her head on his shoulder. Monty kissed the top of her head, and breathed in, inhaling the subtle scent of beach and sun that always seemed to lingered on his girlfriend.

“Hey baby. Having a good time?”

The girl nodded and smiled back at him, a dreamy look plastered to her face. Monty stared at her in reverence and reflected on how lucky he was to have her in his life. Harper and he had been dating for almost three years now. In many ways, they were polar opposites. He was a technology guru, she was a professional athlete. He was an awkward, albeit charming introvert, she was the life of the party everywhere they went. But, despite what they didn’t have in common, the two had differences that complemented each other, bringing balance and harmony into both of their lives. What they did have in common was more important anyway. They were both thoughtful, compassionate, loyal, and patient to a fault. Monty had met Harper while on vacation in Hawaii. He had signed up for surf lessons, she had been his instructor, and they rest was history. Now, they shared his house in Half Moon Bay and he took breaks form his busy schedule to fly around the world, and watch her compete in surf competitions. No doubt about it, Monty thought, he was a lucky man. Harper turned to him and kissed his cheek.

“So they’ve really been together since high school?”

Monty shrugged.

“Sort of. More of less, in an on-again, off-again sort of way. They’ve actually known each other since we were all in middle school together. Everybody else met in high school, that’s when we all got really close. Those two though…”

He pointed to the couple dancing.

“…you should have seen them when they first met. They absolutely hated each other. Actually, it’s a pretty funny story.”

Harper’s brow perked and she grinned.

“Do tell!”

Monty smiled, happy to obliged his girlfriend, as he began recounting the story of how he and his friends had all met.

——————————  
16 years earlier…

Fifty four beaming, happy twelve year olds sat, fidgeting and excited, in the stands of the middle school auditorium. It was the first day of a new school year at Bishop Carroll Academy, and these were the incoming members of its new sixth grade class, the most junior students at the private preparatory school. A small, deeply shy boy hunkered down in one of the middle rows, pulling down a red sox hat that was too big for his head, making his ears stick out. The boy stuck his hands into the front pocket of his sweatshirt, and stared at his lap. He was painfully aware that no-one had chosen to sit next to him, and he desperately wished that the orientation assembly would end. Suddenly, he head the springs of the seat cushion next to him creak, and he turned to find a pretty blonde girl slumping down, trying to make herself as small as possible, as though she was attempting to disappear entirely. The boy immediately felt his palms go sweaty and his heart began to race. He had enough trouble talking to boys his own age, let alone pretty girls, let alone a pretty girl sitting next to him. As he stared, he realized that the girl was sniffling into the crook of her arms, which were folded protectively over her chest. He realized she was trying not to cry, and for a moment, he forgot his anxiety, and leaned over to her, whispering in her ear.

“Hey… Are you ok?”

The girl continued to sniff into her arms, and for a moment, the small boy felt sure she would ignore him. Finally however, she turned her head to peer at him through her arms.

“I don’t know anyone… and I miss my old school… and some of the older boys outside the auditorium were making faces at me.”

As she spoke, the blonde girl began to loose her arms, letting them fall away. It only took a moment for the tiny boy next to her to realize why older boys had probably been making faces at this girl. To put it delicately, the girl next to him was much more developed then most of the other girls in the auditorium. Most boys might have taken advantage of the opportunity to stare, but the young man knew something about being made fun of for how he looked. He was by far the shortest person in every room he walked into, and at an age when every other boy was going through a growth spurts, shortness tended to draw attention. The young man placed a delicate hand on the girls shoulder and whispered to her again.

“I miss my old school too, and those guys jerks. Don’t let them bother you.”

He extended his hand.

“I’m Monty. Thanks for sitting next to me, by the way. Nobody else would.”

Finally, the girl smiled, and held out her hand.

“I’m Clarke.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a new girl with long, dark hair, dropped into the seat on Monty’s other side. She let out a frustrated “hmph” as she landed, staring around the room contemptuously, before shooting a glance at the two people next to her.

“This place sucks!”

She paused, and then rolled her eyes and held out her hand to them.

“I’m Octavia.”

Over the course of the next two hours the three young people hunched down in their seats, whispering back and forth to one another throughout the assembly. Monty couldn’t believe his luck that two pretty girls were talking to him, Clarke was thrilled that she seemed to have met the only two people on earth not interested in staring at her chest, and Octavia was happy to be with two people who were as unhappy about be in the new school as she was. By the end of the assembly, the three had solidified the bonds of new friendship, and as luck would have it, they discovered that they were all in the same homeroom. As soon as they entered their class, they immediately selected seats next to one another. Throughout their first day, they continued to band together, relying on one another to ease their transition to the new and overwhelming school. Finally, their homeroom teacher announced the end of the school day.

The three friends filed out of their classroom, smiling and joking as they made their way to the bus and carpool area. They were halfway to their destination when someone shouted at them from down the hall.

“Hey, look! Making friends with midgets now, are we, Octavia?!”

Monty immediately felt his cheeks flush and his stomach drop. The three friends all looked over in the direction the shouting had come from. There, leaning against the 7th grade lockers were three boys, all laughing riotously. The first was tall and well-developed, with broad shoulders, freckles, and curly hair. To his left was a slightly shorter, slender boy with long shaggy hair, a strong jaw that came to a sharp point, and a delicately curved nose. The last of the boys was noticeably shorter than the other two, with surprisingly high cheekbones, and front teeth that were slightly buck, and had a barely noticeable gap between them. His freshly buzzed hair that was hidden under a backwards baseball cap. The boy with the shaggy hair chuckled, and continued to yell over at them.

“Maybe, Octavia’s got a thing for fun sized boys!”

The taller two boys chuckled and clapped one another on the back, while the third grinned, but looked away awkwardly, shoving his shaggy haired friend a bit. Monty continued to blush and felt as though he might burst into tears in the middle of the hallway. He began to turn away, when Octavia stuck an arm out in front of him, signaling for him to stay. She balled her fists and stomped forward towards the boys, eyes firm, face red.

“Shut up John!”

Clarke and Monty exchanged surprised looks, realizing that Octavia knew the young man. They hurry dover to where she was now yelling in his faces.

 

“Apologize to my friend, John! You’re no so big that you can make fun of somebody for being short. Besides, how would you like it is somebody made fun of you for the way you look?!”

The shaggy haired boy peered down at her and sneered.

“And what exactly is there to make fun of about the way I look?”

Octavia smirked.

“I dunno, your big nose maybe.”

The boy’s eyes grew wide and he took lunged towards Octavia.

“Why you little…” 

Suddenly, the tall, curly haired boy caught his friend by the shirt, slamming him back against the lockers.

“That’s enough!”

Clarke and Monty were now at Octavia’s side, looking around confused. Clarke cocked an eyebrow at Octavia.

“Octavia, how do you know these jerks?”

Octavia rolled her eyes.

“That’s my stupid brother, Bellamy.” She pointed to the curly haired boy. “And these jerks are his stupid friends.”

The curly hair looked down at Octavia with annoyance, finally let go of his friend, who was still being pressed against the lockers.

“It was just a joke O. Stop causing trouble.” He looked at his friend who was now glaring daggers at him. “And John, don’t you ever come at my sister like that again. Now, apologize to Octavia’s friend and let’s be done with it.”

John smoothed out his now wrinkled t-shirt, and shot a death glare at Octavia.

“Why do I have to apologize?! She should apologize to me!”

The curly haired boy rolled his eyes.

“Both of you apologize to each other!” 

Octavia and John were locked in a stalemate of dirty looks, neither one willing to budge. Finally, Clarke placed a hand on her friends shoulder, and began tugging her away.

“Come on Octavia, they’re just stupid boys, who cares what they say.

The shortest of the three boys perked up then, stepping forward and frowning at Clarke.

“I’m not a boy!”

Clarke stared at him for a moment, puzzled.

“What?”

“Are you slow or something? I said, I’m not a boy. I’m a girl!”

Clarke’s eyes grew wide in realization and anger. Clarke didn’t like being mean to anyone, but she also hated being yelled at, or insulted. In her annoyance, she forgot herself, and made a choice to be uncharacteristically cruel.

“Well, you sure don’t look very much like a girl.”

Her insult had the desired effect, as she could see a hurt expression form on the girl’s face right away. Clarke instantly regretted her words, but before she could apologize, the short haired girl stepped forward, inches from Clarke’s face, and responded in kind.

“Well, I’d rather look like a boy than like a dumb blonde with big boobs.”

Clarke’s stomach dropped to her feet, and she felt the tears well up in her yes instantly. 

The shaggy haired boy finally broke contact with Octavia, staring at Clarke, as he raised a hand, pointing at her chest.

“Holy shit, she does have huge boobs!”

Clarke turned on her heels, and ran from the group, fleeing before anyone could see her cry. She sprinted down the hall, and around the corner, leaving Monty and Octavia to face the three older students.

Octavia immediately kicked John between his legs, dropping him to the floor. She then swatted her brother in the chest.

“Good going Bellamy. See what you’re stupid friends did!”

She grabbed Monty’s hand dragged him in the direction Clarke had run away in.

Bellamy rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. “Great!”

—————————  
30 minutes later…  
Half an hour later, Clarke was sitting an the tile floor of the 6th grade girl’s bathroom sobbing into her jeans. Monty and Octavia and tried to talk her into coming out, but she refused, insisting that she didn’t want to move until everyone had left school. She seethed with equal parts anger and unhappiness. The altercation in the hallway, and the subsequent shame and humiliation that followed it, was now the cherry on top of the worst past year of her short life. Just before the beginning of the summer, her parents had announced they were getting a divorce. Clarke had chosen to live with her father, but that had mean moving with him to their lake house, which would now be his permanent home. That meant a new school, and and new friends. 

To make matters worse, at the beginning of the last school year, Clarke had hit puberty “with a vengeance,“ as her mother put it. She’d gone from a flat chested eleven year old to a twelve year old with C cups. She hated the attention it brought, and the looks form her peers. Boy would giggle and point, and girls would make mean comments, or incorrect assumption about her. Clarke had always been a straight A students and a model daughter, but now everywhere she went she was a “dumb blonde.” There was no doubt about it, it had been a bad year, and aside from meeting Monty and Octavia, today had been the worst part of it.

Clarke turned as she heard as the bathroom door creak open, and heavy footsteps echoed off the tile coming toward the stall in which she was curled up. There was a knock at the stall door.

“Hello?”

Clarke recognized the voice of the curly haired boy, and pulled her knees to her chest protectively.

“This is the girls’! Get out of there!”

She waited, and a moment later he spoke again.

“I’m promise I’m not trying to do anything weird. I just… my sister was worried about you. She said you wouldn’t come out, and I though somebody should come check on you.”

The boy bent down slowly, sitting with his back against the stall wall, and sighing.

“Look… My mom… She gets cat called a lot by guys. It make her really upset too. I even saw her cry because of it once.” He paused. “I wanted to apologize for what my friends said to you. They shouldn’t have talked to you like that, and I shouldn’t have let them. I’m really, really sorry.”

 

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two of them, before Clarke decided she was safe, and slid forward, swinging her stall door open, and peering out at the boy.

“That girl that you’re friends with is a jerk.”

The boy sighed.

“You know… What you said to her was pretty mean too.”

Clarke nodded.

“I know. I felt really bad about it. I was going to apologize before she said that stuff to me. Now I just think she’s an asshole.”

The boy smile a bit.

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew her.”

Clarke slid all the way out of her stall, moving next to the boy.

“And that other boy… Is he less of a jerk once you get to know him?”

Clarke’s comment made the boy next to her break out into laughter, revealing a mouth full of braces.”  
.  
“No, he’s still a jerk once you get to know him.”

The boy looked over at Clarke, smiled, and held out his hand.

“I’m Bellamy. Bellamy Blake. I’m Octavia’s older brother.

Clarke shook his hand, looking down shyly as their fingers made contact.

“I’m Clarke Griffin, dumb blonde.”

Bellamy laughed again.

“Now I know that’s not true.”

He stood, offering her his hand, and pulling her up in turn.

“My little sister says you’re one of the smartest kids in her class. Apparently you knew the answers to every question your teacher asked you today.”

Clarke blushed, looking away again, and fixing her eyes on the sinks.

Bellamy seemed to sense her embarrassment, and cleared his throat.

So listen, you missed the busses but… I told my mom what happened, and she said that we are going to give you a ride home since I was “such a jackass.”

The comment made Clarke laugh. She finally looked up, making shy eye contact with Bellamy, but remembering to keep her arms folded tightly folded across her chest.

“Thanks. Can I just call my dad, so he knows I’ll be home late.”

The boy nodded.

“You can use my mom’s cell phone.”

Clarke smiled a bit, in spite of her embarrassment.

“Just so you know, I still think you’re a jerk.”

Bellamy rolled his eyes.

“Fair enough.”

With that, they made their way out of the bathroom, and toward the carpool lot, where a beat up blue mini van sat, sputtering.

——————————  
Present…

Harper smiled and ran a hand through Monty’s hair.

“Wow, so they met that young?”

Monty nodded. “Yep.”

Harper gazed out at the dancing couple, sighing contentedly.

“So after that Bellamy and Clarke must have made peace, right?”

Monty choked on the beer he was drinking and started coughing.

“Oh no, not at all. Actually, they was probably the most amicable interaction they had for the next two years. Literally every single time Clarke and Bellamy were together, they’d be in each others faces, arguing”

Harper cocked her head to the side and smirked, rolling her eyes.

“About what?’

Monty shrugged.

“Oh you know, the normal stuff. Bellamy though Clarke was a know-it-all. Clarke though Bellamy was a bully. Bellamy gave Clarke hard time for being a prude, Clarke gave him a hard time for always having girls following him around. She teased him about being a jock, he teased her about being a bookworm. Over, and over, and over. All the time.”

Harper took another swig of her beer, and looked back across the dance floor.

“But didn’t they start dating before high school?”

Monty smirked, sipping his drink.

“Well yeah, that’s the thing. They gave each other hell all the time, but after that first day of school, there were always certain lines Bellamy didn’t cross with Clarke. He wouldn’t let anyone else cross them either. You see, I think that he gave her a hard time in the same way you tease the girl you like when you’re six. Him teasing her, and them arguing, was just them being too shy to admit they were interested in each other. But that all changed the summer after our 7th grade year. By then, Clarke and Octavia had started taking an interest in boys, and when Bellamy came back from two months away at football camp, suddenly Clarke saw him in a whole new light. By the end of the summer we were constantly catching them making out.” He chuckled. “Octavia and I called it the ‘summer of yuck.’”

A tall, muscular gentleman, with tan skin and a mohawk plopped into the seat next to them. “Ok, you too look too cozy, so I’m interrupting. What are you talking about anyway?”

Monty smiled, clapping the large man on the back.

“Ah, Lincoln! I’m weaving the twisted tale of our friend group’s long and incestuous journey through high school, relationships, and adulthood.”

Lincoln grinned widely.

“Ah! I love this story! What part are you at?”

Harper leaned in and kissed Monty’s cheek playfully,

“He just got to the part where Clarke and Bellamy started dating.”

Lincoln threw his head back and let out a groan.

“Ugh… That’s so far back! You need to skip forward like three years!”

Monty smiled at his large friend. Lincoln loved to tell stories, especially when he had a few drinks in him. He happened to be excellent at it, never failing to entertain those around him when there he had the benefit of a captive audience.

“Ok Link, you take over this part of the story then.”

Lincoln smiled a devilish grin, and then turned to Harper, staring at her very seriously.

“Ok, so you’ve already heard how they met, but it wasn’t until high school that things got really interesting.”

Harper leaned in, resting her head on her hand and braced herself as Lincoln began the story.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I make the final decisions about where the story goes, I also love getting feedback, and I am always open to your suggestions. If you guys have strong feelings/ideas about where you're hoping the story goes, let me know! The best way to reach me is via Twitter, since I get those updates on my phone and it's easy for me to response right away: https://twitter.com/insideabunker
> 
> However, you can also leave comments on here, or hit me up on Tumblr: http://insideabunker.tumblr.com/ Love seeing those messages in my inbox ;)
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy the story!  
> Cheers!

Harper leaned in, resting her head on her hand, as Lincoln began the story.

“Ok, so you’ve already heard how they met, but it wasn’t until high school that things got really interesting.”

Harper grinned, finishing the final sip of her beer, before stealing Monty’s, and smirking. “Oh yeah? And why is that, Lincoln?”

Lincoln broke into a cheshire cat grin, betraying the fact that he’d been waiting for her to ask that exact question. “Because that is when Lexa came back.”

——————————  
11 years earlier…

A soft wind picked up, blowing across the large, sprawling main lawn, and disrupting the stillness that hung over the campus in the early morning, before classes started. It made its way towards the girls dormitory, where it drifted through the windows, providing much needed relief from the heat that came with living in a building with no AC. The breeze blew gently over a face covered in messy, blonde hair; a soft, cool breath on the warm, slightly sweaty skin poking out of the covers.

Clarke moaned, shifting in bed as it pulled her from sleep. She stretched her legs , rubbing them against the smooth, soft sheets of her bed. She felt a heavy arm tighten around her, pulling her into the torso to which it was attached. Clarke settled herself against the body behind her, opening one eye, as she became intensely aware of something hard jutting into her lower back.

Clarke smirked. “I can feel that.”

The boy behind Clarke shifted, groaning, and pulling away his hips, as he moved a hand between their bodies, adjusting the offending appendage. “I’m an abstinent 17 year old boy, lying in bed next to his beautiful girlfriend. That, is gonna happen.”

Clarke wriggled free of her boyfriends arms, rolling over to face him. With delicate fingers, she brushed a few damp strands of sweaty, curly hair off his brow, and kissed him softly. “Bellamy, I know that this is complicated for you, but I don’t have any hangups about waiting.”

Bellamy snaked a hand over her hips, and pulled her closer, gently stroking her lower back with the side of his thumb. “Clarke, the waiting… It isn’t a religious thing. I just need us to be ready, and prepared and…”

Clarke closed her eyed and smiled, nodding her head as Bellamy continued to give her the speech she’d heard 100 times before. “I know, I know. You wanted us to be old enough, and we are now. You wanted to sure we were going to stay together, and we’ve been together for three and a half years. You wanted us to be safe, so I went on the pill four months ago. Bellamy… I think we’ve been pretty responsible about this. All I am saying is, I’m ready whenever you are. We don’t have to wait anymore.”

A groan could be hears coming from the bed across from Clarke’s, and a muffled voice rang out from underneath the comforter piled on top of it. “Will you two just do it and get it over with already!”

Bellamy cupped a hand over his face, and Clarke screwed her eyes shut, grinning in embarrassment. “Sorry, Raven! We though you were asleep.”

“I was asleep! You’re gross sexual tension woke me up.”

Raven tossed a pillow at the couple, pulled the covers off from over her head and sitting up so she could properly glare at them. “If I have to listen to one more whispered conversation about the ins and outs of safe sex, and whether or not you two are ready, I swear I’m gonna ask for a new roommate. Stop freaking out already and just have sex, preferably not while I am in the room!” With that Raven lay back down, pulling her comforter back over her head.

Clarke new Raven was being dramatic, but her point was not without merit. She pulled her own comforter up over herself and Bellamy, giving them more privacy. “She’s got a point you know.”

Bellamy placed butterfly kisses over Clarke’s eyes, sighing, and giving her a thoughtful look. “Ok.”

Clarke stared at him seriously, looking for any signs of sarcasm, or dismissal. “Ok?”

Bellamy nodded and smiled at her, cupping her cheek in his hand, and running the pad of his thumb over her lips. “Ok. But let’s wait until we have some privacy. Maybe, next time we have a night alone at the lake house?”

Clarke smiled at him, and leaned in, capturing his lips with hers and pressing her body to him. Their kiss deepened, Clarke bitting Bellamy’s lower lip slightly, sucking on it gently before pulling away, and grinning. “Sounds good to me.”

An alarm clock buzzed to life on the shelf behind Clark’s headboard, and Bellamy sighed, reaching out from under the covers to grab the irritating appliance. He turned the screen towards him, glancing at it’s glowing face. As soon as he saw the time, Bellamy shot out from under Clarke’s covers. Clad only in a pair of boxer briefs, he began groping in the dim light for pants, socks, shirt and shoes. Clarke picked up the unceremoniously discarded clock, her eyes growing wide when she saw the time. “Bellamy, you need to move or we are going to get caught!”

By now Bellamy was fully dressed save for the final shoe that he was busy stuffing his foot into. He hopped around, finished sliding it on, and bent down to kiss Clarke on the cheek. “See you in class my last class?”

Clark cocked an eyebrow. “Not at lunch?”

Bellamy shook his head. “Probably not, Babe. I have to show Lex around, remember?”

“Who?”  
Bellamy rolled his eyes, knowing that he’d given the information to her the night before. Then again, he though, Clarke has been sketching him at the time. Clarke was incapable of focusing on anything else when she was absorbed in her art. “One of Lincoln and my best friends from when we were kids. She just moved back, and I want to make sure I showed her around on the first day of school. I’m going to give her a tour at lunch. If I have time after, we’ll come meet your guys in the quad.”

Clark nodded, vaguely remembering Bellamy mentioning something about an old friend being back in town. “Should I be worried about this girl putting the moves on you?” Her comment was mostly a joke, though Clarke knew all too well that Bellamy never lacked for attention from girls. Clarke didn’t consider herself the jealous type, but every now and then, she had to admit that watching other girls try to flirt with her boyfriend got on her nerves.

Bellamy laughed, lifting open the the dorm room window, and unclipping the screen. He shook his head, glancing back over at Clarke, who was now crawling back beneath her covers.

“Lex? No! I mean, Lex is awesome, but she’s totally one of the guys. Big tomboy. Not my type.”

Clarke tossed Raven’s discarded pillow in Bellamy’s direction. He batted it down, catching it in one of his large, strong hands, and thew it back at Clarke. “Love you.”

She watched as her boyfriend slipped through her now open window, carefully easing himself onto the branch of the tree that he used to climb in and out of their room during late night visits. Then, he was gone, the thud of his feet echoing off the ground as he jumped off the lowest branch, landing on the mulch below. Clarke watched as he slunk though the hedges and trees that lined the side of her dorm, creeping towards his old truck, which he’d parked on a side street, away from knowing eyes.

Raven pulled down her covers, glancing at her roommate. “How did you manage to end up dating the only boy on the planet who isn’t dying to have sex?”

Clarke rolled her eyes and threw Raven’s pillow back over to her. “I’m sure he is Raven. He’s just nervous. He’s tying to think about his future, and as much as we all love her, I think he worries that he’s going to make a mistake, and end up like his mother.”

Raven sighed. “We better haul ass to the showers if we wanna avoid the line.”

With that, the girls grabbed shower caddy’s and towels, and made their way to the large girls lavatory at the end of the hall.

——————————

Lexa stood in front of the admissions building, shuffling her feat nervously and staring at her ridiculous knee socks and patent leather shoes. She grabbed the windsor knot in her school tie and tugged at it, trying to loosen its strangle hold on her neck. As happy as she was to be back in Maryland, everything about this new school felt uncomfortable, nothing more so than the uniform. She’d known the place was stuffy when Bellamy had started there in middle school. She’d spent days teasing him about the stiff blazers and pressed wool pants he had to wear, never realizing that she too would be forced into the uniform one day. What was worse, was that her uniform included a plaid, pleated wool skirt. Lexa didn’t hate skirts and dresses entirely, but she certainly hated being given no other option. She glanced at the phone in her hand, noting the time. It was already 12:10. Bellamy was supposed to have met her at noon, and she wondered nervously if he had forgotten. She turned her head at the sound of heavy footsteps, thumping hurriedly along the pavement, and was met with the sight of a tall muscular boy running toward the building from across the street. He was at least a foot and a half taller then the last time she’d seen him. His face had leaned out, the chin dimple and cheek bones now more prominent, the jaw stronger anymore square, but there was no mistaking him. The boy running towards her was none other than Bellamy Blake. He caught her eyes then, slowing to a crawl as her approached her, and looking at her with hesitance. He stopped a few feet from her and stared.

“Lex?”

She smiled, flashing two rows of white, perfectly straight teeth. “The one and only.”

His eyes grew wide enough that he suspected they might fall out of his head, and a second later he closed the gap between them, pulling her in for a hug. When he finally put her back down he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her up and down.

“You… Wow! You look amazing! The last time I saw you you were a skinny little tomboy with skinned knees.”

Annoyed, but certainly used to the such statements, Lexa rolled her eyes, punching him in the arm. 

“Thanks Jerk!”

He grinned. “So, what happened to the Lex I remember?”

“Lexa shrugged, trying not to betray her embarrassment. “Oh, you know… Puberty, growth spurt, braces, the usual. Lexa picked up her book bag, slinging it over one shoulder. “So, you gonna show me around or what?”

——————————

By noon, the humidity of the early morning had cleared, and students pouring into the schools large, open quad, happy to be enjoy lunch outside. Clarke and Raven walked out of the cafeteria, arguing as they made their way to the large round table where Jasper, Miller and Monty sat, pouring over class schedules and book lists.

Clarke ducked, narrowly avoiding the French fry that Raven had just lobbed at her head. “I did not!”

“You did!” Raven tossing another fry that smacked Clarke in the chest. “You totally made us late to Chapel! Did you see the look on Father Kane’s face?”

“You could have left without me!”

Raven held a hand to her chest in mock offense. “And miss the best show in the house? Watching you try to stay awake through chapel service is priceless!”

Everyone at the table giggled. Jasper bobbed his head down and pretended to snore before jerking it back up, shaking it furiously to mock Clarke’s usually behavior during the schools chapel services. Clarke’s cheeks flushed and she glanced down at the table, attempting to hide her embarrassment.

“I do not!”

Monty, seated on Clarke’s left, nudged her playfully. “Yeah, you kinda do.”

Miller leaned over the table to grab a French fry off of Raven’s plate. “You guys remember the Easter mass last year?” A new round of giggles rang through the group of friends, as Jasper rested his head on the table and began snoring again. Miller stood, opening a text book and pretending to read in Latin. He stopped abruptly, peered down at Jasper, and cleared his throat loudly. “Ladies and gentleman the lord may be risen but it appears some of your classmates are not. Could someone please wake Miss Griffin.”

The entire group broke out into riotous laughter, as the flush in Clarke’s cheeks turned a deep crimson. “I was exhausted! I had been studying for a huge final the night before!” Clarke hid her face in her hands as her friends continued to giggle hysterically. She looked up just in time to see Raven’s boyfriend Finn approaching the table, taking a seat behind Raven and wrapping his arms around her waist. Raven swatted him. “Hey you! Not so close! One of the penguins is gonna come give us a demerit, and I don’t feel like spending my afternoon in detention.” Almost as if on queue, the lunch monitor, Sister Mary Catherine, glared at them from several tables away, and pointing at their proximity. “Leave room of the holy spirit you two!” The friends all laughed as Raven and Finn blushed, breaking apart. Finn took a seat next to Miller, rolling his eyes. Something in the distance seemed to catch his attention, and he nudged Miller in the side. “Check out Bellamy. Looks like Clarke has got some competition.”

Everyone turned in the direction of Finn’s gaze. There, walking across the quad towards them was Bellamy, his arm wrapped over the shoulder of a girl none of them had ever seen before. Clarke squinted her eyes to get a better look, her heart sinking as the two came closer. To put it delicately, the girl walking next to Bellamy was gorgeous. She was a little taller than Clarke, but with slightly olive skin and long, sleek brown hair. She had an oval face, and high cheekbones that gave her a vaguely familiar appearance, though Clarke couldn’t quite place where she might have seen the girl before. She laughed, revealing white, perfectly straight teeth behind her plump red lips. Clarke sudden felt out of breath. “Wow… She’s beautiful.”

Clarke turned, realizing that all of her friends were now staring at her. Jasper coughed, choking back laughter. “Jealous Clarke?” Miller nudged him “Or maybe she’s interested.” The friends all laughed at the ridiculous idea, and Clarke blushed, looking away again as Bellamy and the mystery girl approached the table.

Bellamy walked up behind Clarke, bending down to kiss her on the cheek. “Hey, guys! Everybody I want you to meet one of my best friends from when I was a kid. This is Lex.”

The girl blushed a bit and waved to the people at the table. “Actually, I prefer Lexa. Nice to meet you guys.”

Bellamy shot his friend a quizzical look, but seem to dismiss his concern just a quickly, taking a seat next to Clarke and stealing a potato chip out of the open bag sitting on her cafeteria tray. Clarke elbowed him in the ribs and turned to Lexa, offering her hand. “Hi, I’m Clarke.”

Lexa took Clarke’s hand, shaking it vigorously. Clarke was caught by the strength and forcefulness of the girl’s grip. Looking up, she locking eyes with her for a moment, and the girl’s face shifted. A hint of recognition flash in her eyes, and corners of her mouth dropped in a subtle frown, replaced seconds later with a very forced smile. She took a seat on the other side of Bellamy, proceeding to make introductions with the rest of the group.

Another brunette came jogging up to he table, setting down a heavy guitar case as she approached. “Bellamy, where is she?”

Bellamy cocked an eyebrow, looking at his little sister and smirking. “She’s right here, O.” Bellamy patted Lexa on the back.  
 Lexa stood and turned to face the girl. Octavia’s eyes went wide as soon as she recognized who was standing in front of her. “Oh my god! Lex?”

Lexa smiled awkwardly. “It’s Lexa now, but yeah.”

Octavia wrapped the girl in a tight hug, squealing in delight.

“When did you get back?”

Lexa released her hold on the girl, smoothing the wrinkles out of her blazer, and pushed some loose strange of hair behind her ear. “A couple of day ago. I was staying with Gus and his wife in Annapolis, near the academy.”

This information seemed to surprise Octavia, who tilted her head to the side, cocking an eyebrow. “What about the rest of the family?”

Lexa’s mood became bashfully suddenly. She smiled shyly, toeing the ground and shrugging her shoulders. “Just me. My dad retired from active duty a years ago and got a job flying for American Airlines. He and the step-monster are out in Chicago now, with the hooligans.” Lexa and Octavia took seats next to each other at the table.

An awkward silence settled over the group. Unsure of what to say, but determined to breath life back into the conversation, Clarke looked at Lexa and smiled. “What about your mom? Does she still live in Maryland?”

Clarke’s comment did nothing to alleviate the silence. Instead Lexa’ looked away embarrassed, and Octavia and Bellamy shifted uncomfortably. Nobody said a word. Finally, Bellamy broke the silence. “So, Lex, you gonna be swimming for Bishop?”

Lexa groaned, rolling her eyes and shifting her hair from one shoulder to the other. “It’s Lexa… and you and Gus real love to dig in my ass about that don’t you?”

“What can I say? Just interested to know if we’re going to have another star athlete in our circle of friends.”

Monty rolled his eyes and look apologetically at Lexa. “You’ll have to excuse Bellamy. He’s always trying to sway the balance of this group towards jocks.”

Lexa nodded and stuck her tongue out at Bellamy. “Oh, really? Outside of Blake, who are the athletes here?”

Octavia smiled. “Well, you already know Lincoln is on the football team with Bellamy.”

The blush in Octavia’s cheeks, as she mentioned Lincoln, didn’t go unnoticed by Lexa.

“And Rae…” Octavia pointed at Raven. “…is all state in track & field. She’s pretty amazing, actually. There were about a million college recruiters scouting her at last year’s state championships.”

Raven grimaced and shot Octavia a sarcastic look. “Hardly!” She looked over at Lexa and shrugged. “There were a few schools that were looking at me, but most of them were Division II. There was this one D-1 coach who seemed pretty interested though.”

Lexa reached down to pull a water bottle out of her book bag. She took a sip and folded her arms across the table in front of her, leaning in towards Raven. “Oh yeah? What school?”

Raven smirked. Her friends often teased her about being cocky. As a result, she tried her best to exude humility, but it was hard not to get excited talking about the interest of a Division I scout.

“Stanford.”

Lexa’s eyes bulged, her lips pulling back into a ear to ear grin. “Dude, that’s huge!”

Raven shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “They’re 7th in the nation right now. The coach said that if I put on a little more muscle over the summer, I stood a good chance of being offered a scholarship this year.”

Lexa nodded “So, did you make gains over the summer?”

“Ten pounds.” Raven smile red, flexing her arm jokingly.

Lexa laughed and squeezed Raven’s bicep playfully. She realized then that she might be acting a little too friendly, and tried not to give herself away by blushing. “What are your events?”

“100m and 200m, but my real specialty is pole vault.”

Finn chuckled. “Yeah, she can really work a pole.”

The boys all laughed at Finn’s comment, save Bellamy, who knew that he’d be in for it later if Clarke caught him enabling Finn’s chauvinism. The girls just frowned, shooting Finn dirty looks as Raven punched him the arm. “Ass!”

Clarke leaned across Bellamy, attempting to get Lexa’s attention. “Lexa what are your events in swimming?”

Clarke was surprised when Lexa deliberately avoided her gaze, looking away and answering her question in a disinterested monotone. “I don’t have one. I quit swimming six months ago.”

Clarke was taken aback by Lexa’s reaction. She wasn’t sure, but she had the distinct feeling that this girl was giving her the cold shoulder. In the back of her mind, Clarke couldn’t help but wonder if Bellamy had been wrong about Lexa when he insisted she was “one of the guys.” Perhaps, she thought, the girl’s iciness was a sign that she had designs on Bellamy. It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time that a girl acted sour with Clarke out of jealousy. Clarke decided she was probably being overly suspicious, dismissed the idea and and pushing it to the back of her mind. None-the-less, for the remainder of lunch Lexa seemed to continue giving her the cold shoulder. All of Clarke’s attempts to make conversation were met with single word answers, and a general lack of interest. No one else seemed to notice, but Clarke was sure that Lexa was deliberately avoiding having to talk to her. Eventually, she gave up trying to engage Lexa in conversation, and excused herself to head to her next class. As Clarke leaned over to kiss Bellamy goodbye, she noticed a look of utter disgust cross Lexa’s face. She ignored it, but as she walked towards the science building, she made a mental note to ask Raven if she noticed the odd behavior, later that night.

——————————

The afternoon sun beat down, harsh and unrelenting, as the two teenagers made their way towards the giant field house. Lexa’s feet beat against the ground furiously, as she worked to stay a few steps ahead of her companion.

“I can’t believe you are dating her!” She shook hook her head and scowled, her brow furrowing as she glared back at Bellamy. “When did dumb blonde’s become your thing anyway?”

Bellamy took a few hurried steps, catching up to Lexa. He pursed his lips in annoyance, and hoisted his tattered old backpack a little higher on his shoulder. “Lex, don’t talk about her like that.”

Lexa shot him a death glare. “I told you, I prefer Lexa!”

“Yeah, about that… When did that happen anyway? You used that hate it when people called you Alexandra. Now, all of a sudden you want to be called Lexa, which is arguably even more girlie. I don’t get it. And what’s with you quitting swimming? When we were kids, your mom practically had to drag you out of the pool every time she picked you up from practice.”

Lexa huffed, speeding up again to put more distance between them. “Well, my mother isn’t here anymore, is she?”

Bellamy sighed, matching her speed and catching her again. “I know, I’m sorry I brought her up it’s just, you have changed so much and I…”

Lexa stopped dead in her tracks, whipping around and staring him down defiantly, squaring her shoulders as though she was ready to punch him. “Bellamy, I’m seventeen! I was away for five years, of course I changed! I grew up! I wasn’t going to stay your little, tomboy sidekick forever!” She let out of long, slow breath, attempting to cool her temper. “Besides, you’ve changed too. You never used to give girls like that the time of day.”

Bellamy stared back at Lexa, feeling his pulse quicken. As children he and Lexa had been notorious for their heated arguments, but those fights had always been about typical guy stuff; whether or not someone was on base during a game, which one of them had a better free throw etc. Bellamy was completely unaccustomed to arguing about girls with her, and he couldn’t help but wonder why Lexa was so angry in the first place. “What do you mean girls like her?”

Lexa rolled her eyes, “Dumb blonde with big boobs.”

Bellamy clenched and unclenched his fists. trying to to loose his temper completely. “She isn’t dumb Lex! Clarke is top ten in her class! Anyway, you don’t even know her. You can’t judge someone off of one interaction you had with them when they were eleven!”

“Everything ok here?’ An enormous boy with broad shoulders and lean muscles jogged up, interrupting them mid-argument. He was shirtless, his tan skin glistening with sweat from the run he’d just finished. “Who’s this, Bellamy?”

Bellamy’s mood relaxed finally, and he smirked, giving Lincoln a rowing look. “Don’t you recognize an old friend, Link?”

Lincoln’s looked down at Lexa for a moment, before stepping back in shock. “Oh my god! Lex?”

Bellamy rolled his eyes. “She prefers Lexa now,” he deadpanned, sarcastically.

Lexa smiled, trying not to let Bellamy’s comment get to her. “Good to see you too Lincoln.”

Lincoln scooped her up in a bear hug, forcing the air out of her lungs as he swung her from side to side, laughing uproariously.

“Lincoln!” Lexa’s voice was compressed and gravely. “You’re crushing me!”

He set he down and looked her over from top to bottom. “Sorry! Don’t know my own strength sometimes. Wow, look at you! The last time I saw you you had buck teeth and a buzz cut.”

Lexa looked away, embarrassed by the description of her twelve year old self. “Well, in all fairness that was half a decade ago.”

Lincoln just grinned even wider. “Man, it’s so good to see you! I can’t believe you’re back.”

Forgetting their argument for the moment, Bellamy and Lexa made their way into the field house, Lincoln gabbing all the while. Always the chatter box, Lincoln spent the next half an hour filling Lexa in on everything he’d been up to in the past five years, from making varsity sports as a freshman, to his father’s retirement, to reconnecting with his mother, who had moved to Washington D.C. when they were seven.

Lexa smiled as Lincoln chatted away. “So, you aren’t angry at her for not fighting you dad for custody?”

Lincoln shrugged. “I mean , I guess when I was a kid I was. But, I understand her thought process more now. I mean, my dad had more money and better lawyers. I think she was worried that if she fought him on it, there was a chance he’d ended up getting full custody, and then never let me see her. In the end, I think she decided that it was better to let me be angry for a while, and figure things out in my own time.”

Lexa nodded, mulling over what Lincoln was saying. It wasn’t that Lincoln’s father, Dane, was a terrible parent. In fact, as a former major league baseball player for the Oriels, Lincoln’s father had provided him with a lifestyle that many could only dream about. However, in the typical fashion of professional athletes, Dane had a level of egomania that caused him to project his aspirations onto his son. Dane was more then capable of being overbearing and pushy with Lincoln, regarding his life plan, and had proven a harsh and unrelenting taskmaster when it came to his son’s involvement in sports. Lincoln’s mother, Indra, had been his one respite from that pressure. However, when Lincoln has been in second grade, she and Dane had divorced. To everyone’s shock, Indra had allowed Dane to keep Lincoln with him, and had moved to Baltimore to finish her education.

Lincoln stretched his arms above his head and bent down, grinning like a child with a secret. “You know, she teaches at Georgetown now? She’s a professor there. Pretty cool right!”

Lexa smiled at her friend, reveling in how happy and well adjusted he seemed. “Definitely cool.”  
Suddenly Lexa realized that Bellamy was shifting uncomfortably at the mention of Lincoln’s mother. “Something wrong, Bell?”

Lincoln shoved his friend, groaning. “Come on dude, get over it! It’s not that big a deal.”

Lexa cocked one eyebrow and looked back and forth between the boys. “What?”

“Bellamy is weirded out that my mother has a girlfriend now. That’s part of why she didn’t fight my dad over custody. He found out they she was dating another woman during their divorce, and she though he’d use it against her. I don’t know why B cares so much though.” Lincoln shoved him again, and stuck his tongue out. “Personally, I think its cool.”

Bellamy shoved Lincoln back, pretending that we was about to punch him in the crotch. “I don’t care, I just… I dunno man it just weirds me out. She was married to you dad, and now she is dating a woman. What is that?”

Lincoln shook his head, clearly annoyed at what a stick in the mud Bellamy was being. “It’s love dude, its not that hard to understand.”

As the conversation unfolded in front of her, Lexa’s pulse began to quicken. Her heart pounded in her chest, and a knot formed in the pit of her stomach. Lexa felt enormously exposed, and she began shifting nervously from foot to foot. She cleared her throat, needing to change the conversation. “So, Lincoln, do you know who Bellamy is dating?” Lincoln grinned, leaned in until he was millimeters from her ear, and whispering. “Wait until you hear who I’m dating.”

Lexa’s eyes shot open as Lincoln whispered the name into her ear, so quietly that Bellamy couldn’t hear.

——————————

Clarke sighed, staring into the bathroom mirror, and letting the stress from the first day of classes fall away. She turned on the old metal tap, filling her hands with water as she screwed her eyes shut, bent over the sink, and began rubbing pore cleanser into her face. When she finished rinsing off, she reached a hand up, eyes still closed, groping for her washcloth. Her hands closed around the cloth, but as she pulled it towards her, her fingers grazed something, knocking it off the self above the row of sinks.

“Hey! Watch it!”

Clarke dabbed at her face and opened her eyes. There, at the skin next to her was Lexa, toothbrush in hand, mouth full of foam. Sheepishly, Clarke bent down to pick up the toothpaste she had just knocked over.

“Sorry, about that.”

Lexa shot Clarke a death glare and practically snatched the tube out of her hand, before moving over one sink to put distant between herself and the blonde. She looked down, and began furiously brushing her teeth again, avoiding Clark's gaze.

When Clarke had asked Raven about Lexa’s behavior at lunch, Raven had simply shrugged, insisting that she hadn’t noticed anything. “She’s probably just shy.”

“She didn’t seem shy when she was feeling up your bicep.”

Raven had rolled her eyes and insisted that Clarke was reading too much into things. However, standing in the bathroom with Lexa, Clarke got the same feeling she had at lunch. She was sure the girl was being intentionally cool to her. Clarke crossed her arms and frowned in Lexa’s direction, watching as she scrubbed at her teeth. “Do you have a problem with me?”

Lexa spit into the sink, continuing to avoid Clarke’s gaze. She took plenty of time rinsing out her mouth before she finally answered.

“What makes you think that?”

Clarke took a tentative step towards her. “You just seem like your being kind of hostile with me is all. I don’t know what it was, but if I did something to offend you just tell me so I can apologize. I mean can’t we just be friends? I remember what it was like to be the new girl at this school, and frankly, I’d rather not fight with a girl I just met.

Lexa straightened up and crossed over to Clarke, staring her down. “So, now I look enough like a girl for you, huh?

Clarke was taken aback by the confusing statement. “What are you talking about?”

Lexa grimaced. “You know, we’ve met before.”

Clarke shook her head, totally unsure of when that had happened. “I honestly don’t remember meeting you before today!”

Lexa leaned forward and stared directly into Clarke’s eyes. When she spoke, it was with a voice that was clearly intended to mock the sound of Clarke’s own. “You don’t look very much like a girl.” Then Lexa straightened up, grabbing her toiletries and making her way out of the bathroom.

In that moment, Clarke realized why Lexa had seemed familiar.

——————————  
Present…

Harper punched Lincoln on the arm. “No way!”

He nodded, laughing and taking a sip of the drink a server was just handing him. “Yes way!”

Harper placed an order for another beer with the server and turned back to Lincoln. “So Lexa was the kid who called Clarke a ‘dumb blond with bog boobs’ on her first day of school?”

Lincoln nodded. “Exactly, and once Clarke realized that, it was pretty much open season between the two of them.”

Monty grimaced. “Yeah, and all off a two sentence argument from when they were eleven and twelve.”

Lincoln shrugged. “Hey, you know how those two are. Nether one of them is particularly good at just letting bygone be bygones. Clarke, in particular, can hold a grudge like nobody’s business.”

Monty nodded, waiving at the figure approaching their table. “Nate! Over here!”

Nathan Miller stumbled over to them and slumped into a seat. “Whoa man… I gotta take it easy on those highballs.” He looked around suspiciously. “No telling Bryan how drunk I am thought! I’ll never hear the end of it.” Miller did his best to look sober, as he grinned, waved to his husband who was dancing with a little girl on his shoes. “So what’s going on over here?”

Harper leaned in, offering Miller a glass of water. “These two are telling me the story of how those two ended up together.” She pointed at the couple in the middle of the dance floor.

Miller chugged the glass of water and set it down with a thud, grabbing another and gulping that one down as well. “Oh man! What part are you at?”

Harper excitedly rattled off the narrative ground they had already covered. “Clarke and Bellamy have been dating for three years, Lexa just moved back, Lincoln just confessed to her that he’s been secretly dating Octavia for a year… Oh! Clarke found out that Lexa is the girl she got into a fight with on her first day of school. Now they hate each other.”

Miller nodded, looking nostalgically at Lincoln and Monty. “You guys tell her about the Columbus Day weekend thing yet?”

The men shook their heads and Miller smiled, crossing his fingers and stretched them, cracking each knuckle. “Well, I better tell it then, since I was the one who saw it first hand.”

With that, Miller leaned in and picked up the story.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I make the final decisions about where the story goes, I also love getting feedback, and I am always open to your suggestions. If you guys have strong feelings/ideas about where you're hoping the story goes, let me know! The best way to reach me is via Twitter, since I get those updates on my phone and it's easy for me to response right away: https://twitter.com/insideabunker
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> Cheers!

Nathan Miller stumbled over to them and slumped into a seat. “Whoa man… I gotta take it easy on those highballs.” He looked around suspiciously. “No telling Bryan how drunk I am thought. I’ll never hear the end of it.” Miller did his best to look sober as he grinned, waving to his husband, who was dancing with a little girl on his shoes. “So, what’s going on over here?”

Harper leaned in, offering Miller a glass of water. “These two are telling me the story of how those two ended up together.” She pointed at the couple in the middle of the dance floor.

Miller chugged the glass of water and set it down with a thud, grabbing another glass immediately and gulping that one down as well. “Oh man! What part are you at?”

Harper excitedly rattled off the narrative ground they had already covered. “Clarke and Bellamy have been dating for three years, Lexa just moved back, Lincoln just confessed to her that he’s been secretly dating Octavia for a year and Clarke found out that Lexa is the girl she got into a fight with on her first day of school. Now they hate each other.”

Miller nodded, looking nostalgically at Lincoln and Monty. “You guys tell her about the Columbus Day weekend thing yet?”

The men shook their heads and Miller smiled, crossing his fingers and stretched them, cracking each knuckle. “Well, I better tell it then, since I was the one who saw it first hand.”

With that, Miller leaned in and picked up the story.

——————————  
11 years earlier…

No one had expected the warm weather to last so long, but as September faded into October, it became clear that Summer had mounted an insurgency against Fall. By the Friday of Columbus Day weekend, the temperature remained in the high eighties, roasting the buildings of Bishop Carroll Academy, and turing classrooms into saunas. In stuffy classrooms, students squirmed uncomfortably in their seats, pouring sweat into uniform blazers, and staring longingly at the wall clocks, desperate for the final bell to ring.

Somewhere in the history building Lexa sat, tapping her desk with the eraser of her pencil, and halfheartedly listening to a lecture on postbellum Reconstruction in the American South. Her head bobbed a little, eyelids flickering as she fought desperately to stay awake. It didn’t help that her history professor, Father O’Neil, inspired about as much excitement as a funeral procession. His lectures were beyond dry, and because they came at the end of the school day, there were always a few nodding heads to be found in the class. Just as Lexa was about to loose her battle with sleep, the bell rang, saving her from fading into unconsciousness completely. She grabbed her notebook, stuffing it into her backpack haphazardly as she made a beeline for the door.

Lexa hurried down the hallway, dodging bodies as the narrow passage began to fill with students. She was desperate to make it out of the building before she ran into Bellamy’s girlfriend, who's last class was located several doors down from Mr. O’Neil’s. She sprinted through the main doors, and out into the quad, breathing a sigh of relief as the afternoon sun hit her face. All that Lexa wanted now was to make it back to her dorm room, collapse into her bed, and spend the long weekend sleeping. The past month and a half had been exhausting, thanks in no part to Clarke. The two girls had been at each other’s throats since the day they met, and their not so subtle enmity had become a major wedge in Lexa’s friendship with Bellamy. He’d spent most of the past six weeks desperately playing peacemaker as she and Clarke went tit-for-tat. Two days prior, his frustration had finally come to a head, and he and Lexa had finally had it out. Their argument replayed in Lexa’s head as she made her way toward the girls dormitories.

“I’m not coming, B.”

“You’re being ridiculous! Do you know how long it took me to convince Clarke to invite you?”

“That’s exactly my point! Why would I want to go knowing that you had to talk her into inviting me?”

“I only had to do that because you’ve been at her throat since the first day of school!”

“She’s been at mine!”

“FUCK! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE WITH YOU TWO!!!”

Lexa had frozen in her tracks as Bellamy slammed his knapsack down on the brick path in front of them.

“I’M SO SICK OF LISTENING TO YOU TWO COMPLAIN ABOUT EACH OTHER!”

Bellamy had been red faced and furious as he proceeded to lay down the law.

“I don’t know why you two hate each other so much, but I’m done being the middle man in all of this! Clarke is my girlfriend whether you like it or not, so figure your shit out and find a way to get along with her!”

He’d grabbed his bag off the ground, turning to leave, but spinning around on his heels a moment later and pointing a stiff finger in Lexa’s face. “You’re coming to her hour damn house, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

At that, Lexa had bristled, seething at him through clenching teeth. “And if I don’t?”

Bellamy had stiffened, hoisting his bag a little higher on his shoulder. “We’ve been friends since we were little kids Lexa, but don’t ask me to choose between you and Clarke.”

With that, he’d stalked off to his next class, leaving Lexa to lick her wounds. Lexa frowned, remembering the sting of his final words. She hated arguing with Bellamy. It made that much more unbearable that all of their recent arguments had all been about Clarke. Lexa didn’t understand what Bellamy saw in her. Clarke seemed like the kind of girl that they would have made fun of when they were kids. She was the consummate judgmental, privileged, private-schooler, complete with a fancy car and a lake house. Lexa seethed when she watched Bellamy dote on her, ever afternoon, at lunch.

What made Clarke especially unbearable though, was how successful she was. It would have been much easier to dismiss her if she had been dull, or plain, or quiet, but Clarke was none of those things. She was a top student, liked by her teachers and respected by her peers. She was also charming, popular, and navigated easily amongst almost all the social groups at school. Worst of all she was beautiful, a fact that hadn’t escaped Lexa’s attention, no matter how hard she had tried to ignore it.

Lexa groaned, pushing her door open and throwing her bag on the floor as she walked the final few feet to her bed. She promptly collapsed on top of, heaving a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes, folded her hands over them and letting out a low moan. Lexa’s roommate was already on her way home for the weekend, and all she wanted to do was hole up in the dorm and relax. 

Bellamy’s ultimatum, however, had been clear. Like it or not, Lexa was going to have to make good on the invitation to spend the long weekend at Clarke’s place. She sighed, comforting herself with the knowledge that, at the very least, there would be plenty of other people there. She counted off the invite list in her head. Octavia, Lincoln, Miller, Jasper, Monty, Raven, Finn; surely that was a big enough crowd to facilitate her and Clarke not having to interact with one another. Either way, she was determined not to worry about the details of avoiding Clarke until she had to. Miller had offered Lexa a ride around 5:30PM, and as far as she was concerned, she had until then to relax and enjoy her alone time.

Lexa closed her eyes, tucking her hands behind her head, and reveling in feeling of being alone for the first time all week. She listened to the sound of the breeze as it rustled the tree branches outside her window, and pushed all thoughts of Clarke, Bellamy and school form her mind. Soon, Lexa began drifting in and out of consciousness, fading into the blissful lull of a mid-afternoon nap.

She was barely asleep for a minute when her phone brought her back to reality. It buzzed angrily on her bedside table, demanding to be acknowledged. She groaned, grabbing at it, sipping haphazardly at the screen, and frowning when she saw the message she had just received.

Miller: “Worried about hitting weekend traffic. Gonna leave now, instead of 5:30. That ok?”

Lexa sighed. Of course they’d be leaving now.

_______________________________________

Clarke stood in the crushed shell driveway, staring at the front door as if it were a portal that would transport her back in time. Since moving back in with her mother, she’d come back to the house from time to time, but not usually for very long, and never by herself. Since her father’s death, their former home had come to feel like a graveyard. The place was mired in unresolved emotions; haunted, and full of spirits. Clarke sighed, realizing that this would be the first time in over two years that she’d been there without Bellamy, or Raven, or Octavia in tow. She steadied herself and stepped forward, slid her key into the door knob, and pushed the door open; alone in her father’s home for the first time since he had died.

The smell was the first thing she noticed. Much as it had in her childhood, the aroma of sunscreen, dried seashells, and old cedar hung in the air. Clarke lingered in the doorway, closing her eyes and inhaling the scents deeply, hesitantly believing that if she waited a moment longer, she might pick up the tiniest notes of old spice, bay rum, wood shavings from granite and carbon drafting pencils, or burnt toast. These smells were sacred to Clarke. They were the distinctive cologne that had clung to her father during his life, and even the tiniest hint of them filled Clarke with simultaneous pangs of longing and nostalgia. It was soon apparent though that no such smells lingering in the house. All traces of those sweet perfumes had been erased when Abby paid to have his personal belongings packed up and haul out in boxes, sending them off to be donated or sold.

As she stepped across the threshold, and her gaze drifted around the house, Clarke’s early adolescence flashed before her eyes. She saw herself laughing on the couch as she and her father watched Mel Brooke’s movies, quoting all the good lines, and trying to imitate the voices. She saw herself grimacing, sitting between her father’s knees at the dinning room table as he ineptly attempted to comb and braid her hair. She saw herself giggling over the kitchen sink as they washed dished together after dinner. She saw herself lying on the floor of the living room doing homework, stealing glances at him when she knew he wasn’t looking; watching as he bent over his drafting table, lost in his own world as he creating plans for homes and skyscrapers, and feats of engineering genius. She saw herself sitting on the kitchen counter, watching her father as he stared out the bay window at the boats passing by on the water; listening intently as he told her about each one, what type it was, and what made it special.  
She saw the two of them sitting on the kitchen floor in the dark, as rain pelting the house, and thunder threatened to tear the sky apart. She saw his back slumped against the kitchen counters, the muscles of his jaw taught as he ground his teeth together against his own discomfort, and held her hand. She saw herself in tears, as she dragged her last suitcase down the stairs of the empty house, bound for Baltimore and a different life.

Clarke shook her head, ridding herself of the unwelcome thought. “It’s just a house,” she reminded herself. “It’s just a house.”

A moment later, the ringing of her phone snapped Clarke back to the present. She pulled the noisy device from her pocket, dragging her finger across the screen, and noting the current time displayed on it’s face, 4:08 PM. “Where are you guys?”

“Don’t freak out, but we’re still at school.”

Clarke’s eyes widened as she ran a hand nervously through her hair. “What?! Why? I thought you were going to be on the road by now!”

Clarke heard Raven groan through the receiver. “I know! I know! We were planning on being on the road by now, but have you looked at the traffic report? There was a huge accident on Route-50. Traffic is backed up all the way over the bridge. It’s bumper to bumper. Nobody’s moving.”

Clarke cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear as she set down her bag, heading for the kitchen. “Shit Raven, I was counting on you, Bellamy and Octavia being here to help me set this place up for the weekend! None of the beds have sheets on them yet, and I still need to do a grocery run.”

Raven clucked her tongue on the other end of the phone. “Don’t worry lady, Miller ended up leaving early and missing the traffic, he should be there soon.”

Clarke sighed in relief. “Thanks goodness! At least I’ll have Nathan to go grab food. I really didn’t want to do all that work by myself.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth, than Clarke was met with the telltale silence of a prolonged pause on the other end of the phone, followed immediately by the sound of Raven humming guiltily. “Hmmm…”

“What?”

“Look, don’t freak out, but Lexa is getting a ride with Nathan, so it’s going to be just the three of you until this traffic clears up. Honestly… It might be a while.”

“What?!” Clarke could practically heard the sound of Raven rolling her eyes as she delved into a diplomatic speech. “I know! I know! I know! You hate each other, but remember Clarke, you’re the one who invited her.”

“Only because Bellamy begged me to for the last two weeks!”

Raven groaned. “I really don’t get this whole thing with you and her. I mean, I think Lexa’s hilarious! She cracks me up in Contemporary Lit.”

Clarke gritted her teeth. “She barely pays attention!”

“The whole class barely pays attention! Clarke, I love you, but you’re the exception not the rule. Besides, she at least she pays enough attention that’s she’s always got a hilarious response when she gets called on.”

“Yeah, she cracks wise and doesn’t take the material seriously. That’s a really great quality in a friend, Raven.”

Raven’s prolonged moan filled the phone receiver. “Ughhhhhh! Clarke, what do you want me to say? Do you want me to tell you that I think Lexa’s a terrible person, because I’m not going to do that. I know you can’t stand her, but I honestly like the girl, and by the way, so do most of your our other friends. Anyway, Bellamy swears that he made Lexa promise to leave you alone all weekend, so unless you want want to be the one to draw first blood you’re going to have to suck it up an make nice.”

Raven paused, sighing into the phone. “Please, Clarke! Can you just do this for me? You have no idea how hard I had to work to convince my parents to let me have off campus privileges for the weekend. The last thing I want to do is spend it listening to you two argue.”

Clarke sighed. “Fine.” She let out a deep sigh and waited for her friend to continue.

Raven’s squeals of joy set the receiver buzzing in Clarke’s ear. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Oh, and also if my father calls you have to pretend to be your mother again. My parents think that we’re at your mom’s place in Philadelphia, and they only agreed to that because I told them I’d spend the weekend looking at colleges.”

Clarke groaned, huffing a bit in indignation. “Raven… You know I hate lying to your parents. You’re father is terrifying.”

“Well, if you’d rather tell my super strict, super Catholic, Marine Corps officer father that I’m actually spending the weekend unsupervised, at a lake house full of horny teenage boys, then be my guest. I’m sure you can imagine how thrilled he’ll be to hear the news.”

Clarke grinned, intent on giving Raven a good ribbing if she had to provide an alibi for her friend, yet again. “Probably about as thrilled as he’d be to find out that his virginal, Catholic daughter has been shaking up with her Protestant, Scotch-Irish, academic probation receiving boyfriend, for the past year.

Raven’s gulp was deep, and audible. “Don’t even joke about that. I’d be in a convent school faster than you can say ‘acts of contrition.’ As far as my mother and the Colonel know, I’ve never even dated anyone. They think all I do is study and go to practice, and frankly I want to keep it that way.”

Clarke turned at the sounds of car tired rolling to a crunching stop on the driveway. “Oh boy. I think they’re here.”

“Be nice!” Raven’s last words rang in her ears as Clarke hit the end call button, and prepared to put forth her utmost display of diplomacy.  
_______________________________________

 

“Yeah… OK… Sure… Got it…” Miller hit then end call button and tucked the phone back into his pocket as he turned the keys in the ignition, shutting the car off. He looked over at the sleeping girl, tucked quietly in the passenger seat of his car. “Lexa?”

Lexa stirring, groggy from her nap and the heat of the afternoon. She stretched in her seat, her limbs heavy. “Are we there?”   
“Yeah, we are.” Miller nodded, his eyes drifting uneasily to the door of the lake house. “Look you’re probably not going to love this but, we’re the first one’s here.”

Lexa looked around, attempting to get her bearing. “Well… Everyone else will be here soon, right?”

Miller shook his head. “Apparently not. There was a huge accident on the 50, and traffic is all backed up. They aren’t leaving until it clears, which won’t be for a few hours, at least.”

He sighed, puffing his cheeks out and staring at the door of the house. “Look, I know you and Clarke don’t really get along, but since it’s just gonna be the three of us for a while, do you think you can play nice?” Miller drum the wheel nervously. “Please? At least until everyone else gets here? I just… I really don’t want to end up playing referee while the two of you argue.”

Lexa shifted uncomfortably. Her distaste for Clarke aside, she wasn’t one to deliberately make her friends feel uncomfortable. More importantly, Miller had been one of the more welcoming members of Bellamy’s friend group, and she owed him for the ride. “Yeah, of course I can Nathan.”

Miller sighed in relief, smiling as he hoped open his door and swung one leg out. “Whew! Ok, good.” He climbed out of the vehicle and shut the door, grinning at her through the glass of the half open window. “You know, honestly, I feel like you guys would really like each other if you got to know one another a little better.”

Lexa smiled back at him, waiting until he’d turned around to grimace at the thought of buddying up to Clarke. A moment later she gathered her bags from the floor and climbed out of the car, making her way across the driveway to the front door. No sooner had Lexa walked up beside Miller than that door swung open, and a smiling Clarke bounded forward.

“Nathan! Clarke wrapped her around his shoulders and squeezed him in a tight embrace. “I’m so glad you made it before traffic hit.” She released him, and acknowledged Lexa with a quick, curt nod. “Hi Lexa.”

It wasn’t the warm greeting Nathan had received, but Clarke did appear to be making nice. Lexa realized that Clarke had likely been sworn to the same cease fire she had, and she resolved to try and hold up her end if the blonde followed suite. Lexa gave Clarke a halfhearted smile and a hand wave, deciding to add a quick “thanks for inviting me,” for good measure.

Clarke nodded, holding open the door and motioned for them to come inside. “Come on, you can throw your stuff anywhere for right now. I still need to get the bedrooms set up.”

Lexa dropped her bag by the door and made her way into the large, open living room. When Bellamy had first mentioned the lake house, Lexa had imagined a cabin and sleeping bags. This however, was an entirely different story. The lake house was just as big, if not more so, than Lexa’s actually home, and certainly much more fascinating. The knowledge that this was where Clarke came to vacation only confirmed what Lexa already believed to be true; that Clarke was rich, pampered, and accustomed to a life of excess. None-the-less, Lexa saw no reason not to enjoy such posh digs, if they were being made available to her. Cautiously, she set about exploring the house as Nathan and Clarke chatted away in the kitchen.

The side door she’d just come in through opened onto a spacious, sunken living room, set a tier below the rest of the first floor. Up one step to the right, the space opened onto a large kitchen, where a chef’s island sat front and center, lined with bar stools. A pot rack loaded with pans, cooking utensils and mugs hung above this, and just behind, sat an even longer kitchen counter that ran half the length of the wall and was lined, tip to tail, with large, picture windows offering and immaculate view of the water. Tall, pantry style cabinets adored the far wall of the kitchen, each one framing the sides of the largest refrigerator Lexa had ever seen.

Lexa made her way into the living room and around the only wall that divided the first floor. It was lined with stone and featured a large fireplace with a flatscreen television hung just above the old, beam style mantle. This had become a makeshift shelf, and the full length of it was crowded with family pictures, mostly of Clarke and a man that Lexa assumed was Clark’s father. Around the corner of the wall, a staircase lead up to the second floor, and on the other side, the partially enclosed wood paneling had been thoughtfully turned into shelves, leaving the top portion of the stairs with open railings. Bookcases paneled the walls on this half of the first floor, and Lexa was surprised to see that each one was completely filled. As she ran her hands over the titles, she realized that the collection featured a lifetime’s worth of different authors and genres, from philosophy, to classics, to poetry to world history, to large compendiums of famous painters, to multiple sets of old encyclopedias, to world geography and shelves upon shelf of books about architecture and engineering. The collection seemed strangely large for a summer home, and certainly not what one would have described as “light beach reading.” Positioned centrally in this half of the first floor, just off the kitchen, was a long and study-looking dinning room table. High-back shaker chairs sat stoically around it’s sides, framing it so perfectly, that it was immediately apparent that the dining room saw little regular use.

Off in the corner of the room, in a break between two of the floor-to-ceiling bookcases, Lexa noticing a doorway. She walked through, entering the only room that seemed cordoned off from everything else. The room wasn’t nearly as opulent as the rest of the house, but it certainly looked more lived in than the rest. The space seemed to function as a den, comfortably overstuffed with a card table, well worn furniture, throw blankets, and an old tube and knob television that sat atop a tape player. The far wall was lined by shelves nearly overflowing with VHS tapes, beach readers, boardgames and random chotchkies. The next wall over was lined with screens that opened onto the house’s expansive deck, where a large hot tub sat, waiting to be used.

“Of course these people have a hot tub,” Lexa thought, and she made her way outside, leaning over the deck railing and staring out at the Lake. She gazed around at the property surrounding the house, unsurprised to find that it was as opulent as the house itself. A large backyard rolled right down to the edge of the lake, where a small private dock jutted out into the water. Lexa turned, making her way back into the house and shaking her head as she thought about her own family’s “vacation homes.” Such places had generally been ramshackle, one room cabins rented form dilapidated lake resorts, and shared by everyone in Lexa’s rather large family. Not that Lexa was complaining. She knew well enough that going on family trips at all carried with it a certain amount of privilege. None-the-less, Clarke Griffin had no idea how good she had it, that much was certain.

As she walked into the kitchen, Lexa immediately became away of a strange tension that seemed to radiate between Nathan and Clarke,. The two stood with their back to her, and were leaning suspiciously close to one another, whispering in heated, low tones that Lexa suspected she was not supposed to hear. She cleared her throat loudly, not wanting to make the situation more awkward by lingering without their knowledge. The two turned, looking at Lexa as though her arrival were the final punctuation on whatever debate they’d just been having. Lexa shoved her hands in her pockets awkwardly, attempting a halfhearted smile. “Everything ok?”

Nathan looked nervously between himself and Clarke, taking what seemed like a few an extra seconds to answer. “Yeah. Fine. Its just that someone still needs to go grab food and booze for the weekend. Plus, Clarke still needs to get sheets on all the beds, so…” He paused, twitching nervously. “Since I don't know the first thing about making beds, Clarke and I figured that it would be best if you stayed here to help her get the rooms ready, and I went out on the grocery run.”

Lexa’s eyes widened with the realization that she was potentially facing an indefinite amount of time alone with a girl she could barely stand. She did her best to think on her feet, searching every corner of her brain for a better solution to their dilemma. “Nathan, how can you not know how to make a bed?”

He shrugged. “Negative repercussion of having an overworked, stay-at-home mom I guess. Clean sheets and pillows magically appear on my bed once a week, and I don’t ask any questions.”

Lexa nodded. “But, I mean, I know how to make beds. If Clarke wants to go on the grocery run I can always just show you, or Clarke could show you and I can go on the grocery run.”

Nathan shook his head again. “Sorry Lex, but my dad only let me borrow the car this weekend after I swore to him that I wouldn’t let anyone else drive it. Since he’s an overly suspicious cop, with overly suspicious cop friends, I wouldn’t put it past him to have called the local police department and asked them to pull that thing over randomly to make sure it’s me driving. I know it sounds crazy, but he’s done worse. Besides…” He looked over at Clarke and sighed. Unfortunately, neither you nor blondie here has a fake ID, which makes me our only bet for procuring liquor for the weekend.”

Nathan turned to Clarke. “There might be traffic and crowds, but I don’t think it will take me more than an hour, hour and a half at most.” He turned back to Lexa and eyed her worriedly. “You two think you can survive that long alone together?”

Clarke rolled her eyes, her jaw setting in aggravating. “Miller, I’m a grown up. I’m sure I can handle an hour alone with Lexa.”

Lexa gritted her teeth, her first balling at Clarke’s condescending tone. True to her promise to Nathan however, she didn’t engage. Swallowing her pride, Lea turned to Miller and nodded her head as she forced herself to respond in kind. “We’ll be fine.” The statement sounded as forced as it felt, but it seemed to appease Miller enough that his fears were dissuaded for the moment. He grabbed his keys off the counter and made his way to the front door, turning when he’s was halfway through it and looking back at both girls. “Just… Call if you need anything, ok?”

“Go!” Lexa and Clarke said the word in unison, and with that Nathan disappeared, leaving Lexa and Clarke staring at each other awkwardly.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Clarke let out a long slow breath and began walking toward the staircase, motioning for Lexa to follow her. “Follow me, I’ll show you where the sheets are. We can take separate rooms.”

Lexa clenched her jaw, followed Clarke as she made her way up the stairs to the second floor, where Clarke proceeded to pull sheets and blankets from a linen closet in the hallway. Clarke stacked a pile in her arms and deposited them unceremoniously in Lexa’s arms, pointing to a nearby doorway. “Why don’t you take the guest bedroom, and I’ll start working on the master at the end of the hall.”

she nodded silently, turning and nudging the doorway open with her foot. She was halfway inside when Clarke called to her again. “Hey, you know what you’re doing right?”

Lexa gave Clarke an annoyed look, taking an exasperated breath before she answered. “Clarke, I think I know how to make a bed. I’ve only been doing it for most of my life.”

Clarke held her breath, willing herself not to return Lexa’s sass, lest she start an argument. “Just making sure you didn’t want help.”

“I don’t.”

Clarke put her hands up defensively, singling her surrender. “Okay! Okay!”

With that, Lexa was through the door, leaving Clarke to finish pulling supplies from the closet.

_______________________________________

Clarke pulled the comforter up tight and folded the flat sheet over it snuggly, admiring her handiwork. There was something about the order and exactness of a well made bed that she enjoyed, though she had no idea why. It was probably one of the few things she got from her mother, as Abby had always been stickler for hospital corners and precisely placed, perfectly fluffed pillows. Clarke smiled, looking at the large bed her father had once slept in, and remembering the tangled mess of comforters and sheets that had always been strewn half on and half off the bed when they had lived there. Her father hadn’t been messy, per se, but he’d never been one for tidiness either. He didn’t care about made beds, or reducing clutter or organizing things in a way that made sense to anyone else. The drafting table in his room had always been adorned, on either side, with giant stacks of papers, blueprints, cards and notes, none of which ever seemed to have any kind of cataloging system. None-the-less, he could flip through them and at a moments notice and know exactly where the item he was looking for was. He never lost car keys, or misplaced his wallet. Jake had simply always remembered where everything was, no matter how disorganized things seemed to everyone else. His memory had been one of Clark’s favorite things about him, especially in light of her own forgetfulness. In spite of being organized to a fault, Clarke always seemed to be misplacing things. It was a personal problem that drove her to distraction on a semi-regular basis.

Clarke ran her hand over the bed, suddenly filled with the urge to tear at the perfectly smoothed sheets and muss them until they resembled the mess Jake would have made of them. The feeling was fleeting however, and a moment later Clarke shook her head, riding herself of her nostalgia, and fleeing the room before she could linger any more on thoughts of her father. Clarke made her way down the hall, stopping to grab more sheets form the linen closet before entering what had once been her childhood bedroom. She jumped when she realized that Lexa was already sitting on one of the two twin beds.

“Jesus!” Clarke shook, startled by the realization that the room was already occupied. “I didn’t realize you were in here.”

Lexa shrugged, leaning back on her hands. “Yeah. I finished with the guest room so, I figured I would just wait until you were done and give you a hand in here.”

Clarke nodded, silently, crossing to the brunette and depositing a stack of sheets and blankets on the bed next to her. The two set to work in silence, each one working their way around the bed, tucking and folding and stuffing pillows into cases. Every so often, Clarke looked up from her ministrations to inspect Lexa’s work, surprised to find that the girl was actually doing a precise and careful job.

Clarke paused, watching how Lexa folded the end of a flat sheet into hospital corners, tucking it snuggly under the matters. “I have to say Lexa, I’m surprised that you do that so neatly.”

Lexa looked up at Clarke, her eyes narrowing a bit, her mouth set in a frown. “What did you expect? My father was a military officer, unmade beds weren’t allowed in our house. Besides…” Lexa folded the flat sheet back, pulling it tight over the top of the bed. “My family never had people to do this sort of thing for us.”

Clarke’s temper rose at the realization of what Lexa was implying. She immediately dropped the pillow she was fluffing and crossed her arms. “And what exactly do you mean by that?”

Lexa rolled her eyes as she began pulling a comforter over the top of the bed. “Come on princess, don’t tell me that you didn’t have a maid, or a nanny, or someone like that taking care of this stuff for you.”

Clarke was sure she was turning red as she felt her blood begin to boil. “No Lexa, as a matter of fact, I didn’t.” Clarke emphasized each word exactly, raising her tone just enough to make it clear that she was getting annoyed.

Lexa grinned, enjoying that the conversation was getting under Clarke’s skin. She knew she should stop before she said anything else provocatory, she knew she’d promised to play nice, but something about Clark’s level of self righteousness was toying with her darker angels. Despite her best efforts, Lexa found that she was unable to stop herself from carrying her train of thought to it’s logical end.

“Right, so you just have a huge lake house, and daddy bought you nicer car than any 16 year old has a right to drive, but definitely no maids and no nannies for you. Gotcha. You know it’s It’s funny, ‘cause I would have thought that…”

Lexa’s sentence was cut off abruptly when a pillow smacked her hard and square in the face, sending her tumbling back on to the bed. In the momentary aftermath , Lexa could only stare at Clarke in stunned silence, mouth hanging agape as she processed the fact that Clarke had just hit her. Granted it hadn’t hurt, but it had been shocking, especially when one considered how demure Clarke tended to be, even in the middle of an argument. But now, Clarke was staring down at her, seething and red-faced, clearly past the point of no return as far as flaring tempers went.

Clarke dropped the pillow on the floor next to her and leaned over Lexa, who sunk back onto the bed, suddenly timid. The blonde’s chest heaved with each slow breath she took, her nostrils flaring as she struggled to control the volume of her voice.

“Look, I don't know what you problem is, but you don’t get to give me a hard time about my family, NOT EVER.” Clarke’s voice raised suddenly, and she took a moment to try and reign in her nerves as she continued. “Do my parents have money? Yes. Do I lead a very privileged life? Yes. But I’ve never lied to anyone about any of that. I also don’t go around throwing my privilege in anyone’s face, mostly because,” she paused and leans in a little further, and allowing her temper to escape her, as she she yelled the end of the statement in Lexa’s face. “I’m incredibly grateful for it, and fully aware of how lucky I am!”

Clarke took a step back, surprised by her own outburst, and a little breathless in the aftermath. For her part Lexa was completely frozen, still sunken in the bed, and now, quite sorry that she’d started the argument in the first place. Clarke finally looked back up at her and let out a long, slow breath, before pursing her lips. She swallowed hard, and for a moment, Lexa thought that she saw Clarke’s eyes turn glassy.

“Lexa, the only reason my family has this house is because my father left it to me. This wasn’t a vacation home. This was his our house, his and mine, until I was fourteen. And, for the record, he didn’t buy me a fancy car. He left that to me as well, along with everything of his that didn’t get sold off after he died.”

Lexa had never felt smaller in her life than she did in that moment. She could barely bring herself to look Clarke in the eye as she ventured a timid question. “Your father died?”

Clarke looked away, and now Lexa was sure she hadn’t been imagining the glassiness of the girl’s eyes. A lone tear slid down Clark’s cheek as she gazed at her feet, then out the window, then at Lexa. “Yes Lexa, he died, and you might know that if you had done anything but argue with me since you showed up here two months ago. He died in this house, right in front of me, waiting on an ambulance that came too late to do anything.” She finally looked up. “So, you don’t get to tell me how easy I’ve had it.”

With that, Clarke dashed out the door of the room, her feet thumping against the floor as she retreated down the hall. She was determined to spare her dignity by not breaking down in front of Lexa, and she managed to make it into the master bedroom just in time, bursting in silent sobs as she slammed the door behind her, and sunk to the floor.

_______________________________________

Lexa remained motionless after Clarke had fled the room. She felt that same way she had as a child, when one of her parents would yell at her in public. She was humiliated, and ashamed of her behavior. Lexa waited for Clarke to return and continue yelling at her, a tongue lashing she surely deserved. As the minutes ticked by, and Clarke failed to return, Lexa realized that a worse and much more humbling fate lay in store for her. Without a doubt, the only correct course of action was to seek out Clarke an apologize as sincerely and profusely as possible. Even-so, as Lexa continued to sit, mentally licking her wounds, she realized that such an apology would need to cover far more ground than simply the argument at hand.

The flat fact was that she had been awful to Clarke since she’d moved back. Granted, there had been hostilities on both sides, but as Lexa sat contemplating the timeline of events, she realized that the majority of the wrongdoing had been on her part. The truth was, she had no idea why she had been so intent on disliking Clarke. There had been that unfortunate incident in middle school, but that was obviously a poor excuse for a grudge that went on without end. The more Lexa though about it, the more she realized that Clarke had been a convenient scape goat for all of her hate and discontent at being plucked from Chicago, and banished to Maryland, and boarding school, and weekly check-ins with her older brother. She sighed, clearing her head of the thoughts of home, and her father, and the many, many problems that had landed her here.

What was worse, she realized, was that she’d been alienating a girl who, as it turned out, had something specific and important in common with her. Lexa sighed and ran her hand through her hair, wracking her brain for what to say when she finally gathered the resolve to seek out Clarke and make amends. She looked at her watch, realizing that she’d better come up with something quickly, as Nathan might be back sooner rather than later. Deciding that short, honest and empathetic was probably the way to go, Lexa steeled her nerve, and made her way down the hall to the last bedroom. She knocking gently on the door several times, only to be met with silence. She waited a few moments and knocked again, slightly louder this time, but still timid. There was no answer. She knocked a third and finally time, her continued rapping finally soliciting a response, as a a muffled voice echoed from deep in side the room.

“Go away!”

Lexa leaned her head against the polished wood of the door and sighed heavily.

“Clarke, I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t have any right to talk to you that way.”

Lexa was met with silence, and she waited a few minutes before she attempted to extend any further olive branches.

“Look… Can I just come in?”

More silence.

“Clarke, please… I want to apologize to you properly. If you don’t want to hear what I have to say after that then I’ll leave. I promise.”

Lexa leaned back and waited with baited breath. It took a moment more, but the door finally popped open, creaking as it swung open just an inch. The muffled voice spoke again, barely more than a whisper.

“Fine, but I doubt anything you say could make me want you here at this point.”

Lexa pushed the door open slowly and looked around the room, finding Clarke slumped against the wall by the bed, knees tucked to her chest, arms wrapped protectively around them. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and she swiped at them with a palm, trying in vain to hide the evidence of her emotional outburst.

Lexa approached Clarke cautiously, as though she were a wounded, wild animal. Slowly she took a seat on the floor near the blonde girl, and crossed her legs, leaning back against the side of the bed. She looked at Clarke intently, making sure to collect her thoughts before she spoke.

“Clarke, I know…” An errant tear rolled down Clarke’s stained cheek, and Lexa’s nerve disappeared for a moment, returning a second later as she continued. “Look, there’s no excuse for the way I’ve been treating you. You’re right, I’ve done nothing but argue with you since I got here, and I honestly don’t have a good excuse about my behavior. The thing is…”

Lexa paused, too emotional to continue. She stared at her feet, picking at a loose thread on her jeans as she waited waited for the wave of emotion to pass. “The thing is that coming back here wasn’t my choice, it was my dad’s. I was having a hard time in Chicago, and he kind of didn’t know what to do with me. He thought I’d be better off at boarding school, where there were people to keep an eye on me constantly.

Lexa stared off into the distance, contemplating the events of the past two years, many of which she wished she could forget, though they always felt ready to claw their way to the surface. 

“Maybe he was right, but the truth is that between not getting to be with my family, and missing my friends in Chicago, and having to repeat junior year because of the transfer, I’ve just been really miserable.”

She closed her eyes, willing away the memories of everything leading up to the day her father announced that she’d be returning to Maryland to finish high school. “Anyway, pretty much the only thing that kept me from freaking out was knowing that I was going to be with my old friends, Bellamy especially. He and I met when were four, and we’ve been best friends ever since. When I first moved away, he used to call me every week just to see how I was doing, and he’s always sent letters and emails. I guess I felt like, as long as I had him, everything would be ok.”

Lexa paused for a moment, thinking over her words carefully. “That first day of school, when I saw Bellamy, I realized how much he’d changed, and it really freaked me out. Then, he introduced me to you, and I realized how important you are to him… I think I just felt really threatened, like maybe I had been replaced.”

Lexa sighed, forcing herself to look at Clarke, even if it meant letting Clarke see her at her most raw. “The truth is that I’m not really very good at admitting when things are bothering me. Sometimes, the way I deal with stuff is to focus all my negative energy on something less abstract, something concrete, like a person.”

“Deflecting.” Clarke sniffed, as another stray tear appeared at the end of her eye. Lexa starred at it as it as it rolled down Clarke’s rosy cheek, sliding over her pink lips before pooling on her chin. Lexa was momentarily overwhelmed by the urge to reach out and wipe it away from the soft, dimpled skin, but the thought was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

“Right, deflecting. Anyway, I guess that’s why I have been taking everything out on you. I couldn’t admit to what was really bothering me, so I just focused on the fact that you’d taken my place in Bellamy’s life. I know that’s no excuse for how I’ve treated you, but when you blew up at me in there, I think it helped me realize that I’ve been taking my problems out you. I’m sure I’ve been pretty hurtful, and I… Clarke, I am so, so sorry, for everything.”

Lexa swallowed hard, knowing that nothing she said was likely to make a difference to Clarke. “You have every right to hate me, and if you want me to leave then I will as soon as Nathan gets back, but…”

She tapped her foot and stared at the ceiling, willing herself to finish what she was saying, in spite of the lump forming in her throat.

“If you can find a way to give me a second chance, I think you might find out that we have some things in common.”

Clarke huffed and cocked an eyebrow as she stared skeptically at Lexa. “Oh really? Like what?”

Lexa continued to tap her foot nervously as she worked the courage to open up to Clarke. “Well… Like I know how it feels to loose a parent.”

The mood in the room grew heavy, the statement hanging in the air between the two girls. Lexa pulled her knees into herself, wrapped her arms around them, and making no effort to continue speaking. It was Clarke who finally broke the silence, resting her chin on her knees and staring thoughtfully at the brunette, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. “Your mother?”

Lexa nodded and glanced up at Clarke before returning her gaze to the floor, unable to hold the eye contact.

“Is that why you didn’t say anything when I asked you if your mother still lived in Maryland?”

Lexa closed her eyes, leaning back into the bed. “Yeah. It’s just… It’s still kind of hard to talk about.”

Clarke nodded. “How?”

“Lung cancer.”

Clarke nodded, contemplating the answer for a moment for she fished for more details. “was she a smoker?”

Lexa looked up, laughing and sniffed back tears a the same time. “My mother? G-d no! My mother was a health nut. She wouldn’t even let us have fruit snakes because she said they were too full of sugar and dye. She grew her own vegetables. She made all of our meals form scratch. Even when my grandparents would come to town and we’d do Friday night seder with them, she’d insist on using grape juice instead of wine because she didn’t belive in drinking alcohol.”

Clarke smiled, despite herself, realizing that this was perhaps the first real conversation she and Lexa had had. “When did she die?”

“Seventh grade, just before the end of the school year.”

Clarke nodded, processing the information slowly. “I remember Bellamy going to Anne Arundel Medical Center with his mother a few times that year. Was that…”

Lexa nodded, glancing up at Clarke quickly before averting her gaze. “Yeah that was my mother. She was good friends with Bellamy and Octavia’s mom.”

Neither girl spoke for the next few minutes. Regardless the silence, the mood of the room had become more comfortable. Clark’s temper had subsided, and despite her normally stoic reserve when it came to talking about her mother, Lexa felt oddly comfortable in opening up to Clarke. Slowly, the blonde scooted her way across the floor, rotating her body so that she was leaning against the bed, next to Lexa. She let her head fall back, looking over at the brunette.

“Was she sick for very long?”

Lexa shook her head sadly, tracing the hole in the knee of her jeans with her index finger. “Not really. My mom was really into holistic medicine; home remedies, herbal medicine, all that stuff. Plus, she’d had asthma all her life, so when she started wheezing and coughing her doctor thought it was seasonal allergies, or a bad case of bronchitis. By the time a doctor finally caught it, the tumors in her lungs were inoperable.”

Clarke ran her hand through her hair, shaking her head at the thought of Lexa’s mother’s doctor missing her disease signs for so long. “That’s awful.”

Lexa nodded. “Yeah. She was a fighter though. They gave her this really terrible prognosis, but she had this incredible attitude, like she was going to get better no matter what the odds were. She was tough, you know? She never let us see her upset. Honestly, the only time I ever saw her cry was the day her hair started falling out from all the chemo. She had these long, beautiful, dark curls. One day she was brushing them, and they just started coming out in clumps.”

Lexa fixed her stare on the wall before, thinking back to the day she had seen her mother weeping softly, unaware that she was being watched. “She didn't know that I saw, but I was standing right outside her bathroom, and the door was open a crack. I hated seeing her cry, so I decided that I would try to make her feel better by cutting off all of my hair too. I figured that way she wouldn’t be the only one. I think was really touched by the gesture… after she stopped being angry that I’d buzzed all my hair off.”

Clarke smile, looking over at Lexa with a feeling of fondness that surprised her. “That’s adorable. When was this?”

Lexa paused, not wanting to disturb the fragile peace they had created in the last few minutes. “Actually… It was the day before you and I met, in the hall, when you told me I didn’t look like a girl.”

Clarke’s eyes grew wide, her heart sinking as realization dawned on her. “Lexa…” Clarke turned so that she could see Lexa’s face more clearly, though the brunette did her best to avoid her gaze. Clarke placed her hand on her forehead and slumped back agains the side of the bed. “Oh my G-d… No wonder you hated me. That was probably one of the worst days of your life and I was an insensitive jerk. I’m so sorry!”

Lexa shifted uncomfortable, pulling her knees into her chest tighter. “No, no… Clarke, honestly it’s fine. We were kids, and there was no way you could have known.”

The atmosphere of the room turned momentarily awkward. Desperate to shift the focus, Lexa turned the topic back on her companion. “What about your father?”

Clarke cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“How did he pass? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking.”

The blonde nodded, her mouth setting in a hint of a frown. “My father had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a genetic condition that causes parts of your heart to become enlarged. The problem is that it’s usually asymptomatic, so my father didn’t know he had it until it was too late. It was the summer before freshman year, right after school had ended.”

She took a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks as she exhaled. “The tail end of Hurricane Selma had hit this area, and we’d just lost power. I was so freaked out, but dad got all excited about lighting candles and waiting out the storm. He acted like it was going to be this big adventure.”

Clarke paused abruptly, closing her eyes as she considered whether or not she had the strength to finish the story without falling apart. “He’d said something earlier that night about feeling short of breath, but he seemed fine. A few hours later, we were in the kitchen horsing around, and all of a sudden he grabbed his chest and slumped over.”

Through Clarke’s closed eyes, Lexa could see tears beginning to form, but she waited for her to continue, afraid to interrupt.

“He was in a lot of pain, but he managed to tell me to grab his cell phone and call 911. I was so scared when I was on the phone with them that I could barely manage to get out our address or explain what was going on, but they said that an ambulance was on its way, and that they’d be there soon. Dad was holding my hand so tight, and even though he could barely breath, he kept telling me that everything was going to be ok. Then… Then it was like he just fell asleep. I tried to do CPR, but it didn’t work, and the roads were washed out, and by the time the ambulance got here the EMTs couldn’t revive him. They pronounced him DOA at the hospital.”

Tears were pouring down Clarke’s cheeks now, and for the second time that evening, Lexa felt the strange urge to reach out and wipe them away. Clarke pulled her body into a ball, her back shuddering as she broke down and sobbed into her knees. Lexa felt her own tears welling up as she stared at the broken, grieving girl next to her, knowing her pain, and feeling a strange sense of camaraderie. Finally, overwhelmed by the need to do something helpful, Lexa leaned over and wrapped her arms around the crying girl, rocking her body gently as she too began to cry.

The gesture was awkward, and abrupt, but as Clarke allowed herself to relax into Lexa’s embrace, she realized it was not unwelcome. In that moment, something between the two girls shift. They had shared something dark, and secret, and sacred, and the bond that was formed by that shared pain was their emotional crossing of the Rubicon. No matter how bitterly they’d held each other in contempt before, all hostilities were now forgotten, replaced by understanding, and the faintest trace of a newly formed friendship.

Suddenly the door to the room swung open, and the girls both jumped, flying away from one another as a bewildered and worried looking Nathan Miller appeared. He stared down at them in horror, clearly assuming the worst.

“Jesus! What happened? I was only gone for an hour!”

Clarke stood, wiping at her tear-stained cheeks vigorously, and shaking her had at the startled boy. “It’s ok, Nate. I promise, we’re fine.”

From her seat on the floor, Lexa could only nod and rub at her eyes, desperate to pull herself together. “Yeah. We’re good. We’re cool now.”

Nathan stared at his friend, mouth hanging slightly agape as he took in the peculiar sight. His eyes darted back and forth from one crying, red-faced girl to the other, as he considered whether or not to trust that they were telling the truth. Finally, he shrugged, shaking his head as he accepted that, whatever had happened, he was probably better off not knowing. He cleared his through, and waited for the girls to collect themselves before speaking.

“Well, I just talked to Raven, and those guys are going to be stuck in traffic for a few more hours, so…”

He pulled a large bottle of flavored Vodka from behind his back.

“I thought we could start the party without them. You two game?”

Clarke laughed as she extended a hand to Lexa, helping the girl off the floor. “What do you say Lexa?”

Lexa smiled at the blonde and wiped a final errant tear from the corner of her eye. “Yeah. I think we could both use a drink.”

_______________________________________________

Two hours and half a bottle of Vodka later, the three teens lazed about in the living room, the two girls spread on the floor giggling and flushed. They had completed several rounds of drinking games waiting for their friends to arrive, and exhausted form the drive, and the heat, and the running of errands, Miller lay strewn on a couch, drifting into sleep. Their hostilities now ended, Lexa and Clarke had settled into an easy peace, finding that they actually enjoyed being in each other’s. With the help of the alcohol, the conversation was flowing easily, and as Nathan slept, their talk turned to school, and friends, and relationships.

Lexa grinned, pouring vodka into Clarke’s cup, and topping it off with lemon-lime soda. “So you’ve never…”   
Clarke shook her head. “No. I’ve wanted to for a while, but I think between Catholicism and worrying about what could happen if something goes wrong, Bellamy is determined to live like a priest until he’s married.”

Lexa shook her head. “Wow. I mean… Just, wow.”  
Clarke rolled her eyes. “Its not that big a deal. I mean it’s not like you’ve done it yet… Right?”

Lexa bit her lip, holding up her hands in an apologetic shrug.

Clarke’s eyes widened a bit, genuinely surprised by the answer. “Wait, really?”

Lexa nodded, cocking an eyebrow. “I mean I’m almost 18, I think that’s pretty average.”

Clarke crossed her arms, considering the girl sitting across from her. “But like… Were you dating the person.”

Lexa shook her head. “No, and to be honest it’s actually people.”

Clarke’s eyes grew wider. “At the same time!?”

Lexa nearly fell back in her chair laughing, as some began dripping form her nose. She dabbed at it with a napkin and chugged several times, clearing her throat. “Oh G-d,no! No, I mean like it’s been more than one person since the first time when I was 16, three to be exact.”

Clarke nodded, taking another sip of her drink, suddenly self-conscious about her lack of experience. “So, you didn’t care about being in a relationship?”

Lexa shook her head. “Not really. I guess I just saw a lot of my friends waited until they were in these really serious relationships to have sex for the first time, and then as soon as they broke up with that person it was this huge dramatic thing because they’d had sex with them. My first time was with one of my really good friend, Toby. We both wanted to try it, and we trusted each other, so we just did it. I’m actually kind of happy about how it happened. It was less pressure, you know? We didn’t have to worry about being romantic, or sexy, and we could laugh about it afterwards.”

Clarke considered her fiends words carefully, nodding slowly as she contemplated the idea. “What about the other two?”

Lex smiled. “Well, the second one was someone that I knew from around. They didn’t go to the same school as me but we were friends through friends, that sort of thing. We had been flirting with each other for a wile and then, one night, we ran into each other at this big party, and we ended up making out, and one thing just sort of led to another. Afterward, we both agreed that it didn’t make sense to date, but we stayed friendly.” Lexa phone dinged suddenly, interrupting the story. It buzzing and chimed and Lexa pulled it from her pocket, taping off a quick text for what Clarke noticed was perhaps the thirtieth time that night.

Lexa finished her drink and poured herself another, thinking about where she’d left off. “The third was a g…” She paused for a moment, seeming to correct herself. “It was someone I’d been close with for a while. I think we both really liked each other, and really wanted it to be something, but then I get sent here so, so much for that.” Her phone dinged again, and she pulled it from her pocket once more, smiling before she tucked it away.

Clarke smirked, raising her eyebrows and leaning towards the brunette knowingly. “This wouldn’t happen to be the person who’s been texting you all night, would it?”  
Lexa shrugged, barely managing to hold back her grin. “It might be.”

Clarke nodded. “Well, I know long distance is hard, but I think if you like this guy there is no reason not to give it a try.”

Lexa sighed. “Sh… It’s more complicated then that Clarke.”

Clarke leaned back in her chair, starring at and allowing her thought to wonder. Soon she found her thoughts turning to a question that had been eating at her since Lexa’s arrival. Given their new found amity, she decided that perhaps it was time to question the girl about the thought that had been plaguing her for the past few months.

“Lexa, out of curiosity have you ever… I mean, do you think that it’s possible that one of the reasons you didn’t like me when you got here was because you maybe have feelings for Bellamy.”

Lexa coughed, choking on the sip of vodka and soda she had just taken and spitting half of it back into the cup. Her eyes twitched nervously, and her heart raced as she fumbled to answer the blonde’s question. “Ew! No! I mean, I guess I understand why you would wonder about that…” Lexa coughed as more soda made it’s way out of her respiratory tract. “But, I swear, I don’t.”

Clarke sighed gently, staring at the table top as she continued her bashful line of questioning. “It’s just that, you said you tend to deflect, and I see how close you two are, and I know that sometimes when you’ve been friends with someone for a really long time it’s easy to mistake one feeling for another…”

“Clarke, I don’t have feelings for Bellamy.”

Clarke swallowed, growing bolder as she looked up at Lexa, determined to make suer the girl was giving her a genuine answer. “Really? Because, it would make sense given your history. You can be honest with me, Lexa. I wouldn’t be mad. I mean, I wouldn’t be ok with you making a move on him, but I would understand if you had a little bit of a crush.”

Lexa leaned toward the blond, desperate for the uncomfortable line of questioning to end. “Clarke, I swear to you, you don’t know what your talking about. I am 100% sure that I don’t have those feelings for Bell.”

At this, Clarke became a bit more defensive, leaning in as well and upping the anti, as both of their tempers began to flare. “Why are you so sure?”

“I just am.”

“How?”

“Because!”

“BECAUSE WHY, LEXA?”

“BECAUSE I’M GAY, CLARK!”

The room fell completely silent, and both girls slumped back in their chairs shocked, as though they had just witnessed a bomb go off in the living room. Lexa brought her hands to her face, resting her elbows on the table, and hiding her face in embarrassment, unable to look at the girl across form her. Clarke could only sit there in astonished silence, too stunned to think of anything to say. It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts, but when Clarke would for words again, she stared at Lexa curiously, determined to clarify the information her companion had just revealed.

“But, you said that your first time was with a guy named Toby.”

Lexa ran her hands over her face, forcing herself to look at Clarke. “Yeah… That was kind of my way of proving it to myself I guess. It was fine but, I just knew afterwards that I wasn’t into boy that way.”

“So two and three.?”

“Both girls.”

Clarke nodded, processing the information, as she noticed that Lexa was looking uncomfortable close to tears. The blonde reached over the table and grabbed done of Lexa’s hands, squeezing it. “Hey, it’s ok Lexa. There is nothing wrong with it.” Clarke smiled shyly, laughing a little as she rubbed her thumb over the back of Lexa’s wrist. Lexa signed and squeezed Clark’s hand back in return.

“Thanks. It’s just that, you’re kind of the first person I’ve ever admitted that to. I mean, other than two and three.”

Clarke laughed, appreciating the brunette’s attempt at levity, despite how uncomfortable she knew she was.

“If it makes you feel better about it I had a fling with a girl at camp the summer after seventh grade. I guess that kind of makes me bisexual.”

Lexa chuckled, heaving a sigh as she released Clarke’s hand. “Clarke, you don’t have to do that. I mean, I’m pretty much ok with it. I just haven’t really figured out how to tell other people yet.”

Clarke nodded. “Well, I don’t think any of our friends would have a problem with it, Lincoln especially, considering stuff with his mom.”

Lexa nodded, becoming serious. “What about Bellamy?”

Clarke considered this for a moment, knowing her boyfriends limitations when it came it such things. “Lexa, you’ve been friends with him since you were little, and Bellamy love you.” 

Lexa shook her head sadly, knowing that Clarke was sugar coating the truth. “But, he also isn’t comfortable with homosexuality. Not even a little.”  
Neither girl knew what to say, and so neither spoke. Lexa raised her drink to her lips, needing to do something to break the awkwardness of the moment, but realizing as soon as she tipped the cup back to her lips that ti was empty. She laughed, setting it down and rolling her eyes before looking up at Clarke.

“So how long were you two a thing?”

The blond tilted her head, throw off by the question. “What?”

“You and this camp girl. How long did it last?”

Clarke laughed, pouring more vodka into Lexa’s cup. “Oh, about three camp fiery nights. She kissed me at the last bonfire, the night before we went home. But, then I got back and about a week later Bellamy and I were dating, so I guess I never really had a chance to think about it. I just remember that girls lips felt way softer than boys lips.”

Lexa grinned mischievously, smirking at the comment. “That’s for sure.”

The girls both laughed at the statement, and the room began to return to a comfortable lull. Clarke smiled at her friend, knowing that she should probably offer her a final statement of reassurance before they dropped the subject all together. “Lexa, I’m not going to tell anyone. You can come out to people when you're ready.”

Lexa smiled, giving her a sheepish grin and a wink. “I appreciate that.”

Before the girls had a chance to say anything else, the front door flew wide open, and Raven swept into the room like a whirlwind. “Whew! I thought we were going to be stuck in that traffic forever!”

Bellamy entered hot on her heals, loaded down with bags, which he deposited unceremoniously on the floor.

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about. You’re not the one who had to drive!”

Raven stuck her tongue out at him and made her way over to where Clarke was seated, throwing her arms around her friend, and kissed her cheek dramatically.

“Hey, baby cakes!” Raven looked over at Lexa and winked. I see you two managed to not kill each other while you were waiting on us.”

Clarke smiled awkwardly at her friend and rolled her eyes. “Just barely. Where is Octavia?”

Bellamy walked to the couch, dropping onto it heavily and rousing Miller from his nap. “She said the truck as too crowded, so she got a ride with Lincoln.”

Raven and Clarke exchanged quick knowing glances, careful not to betray anything to Bellamy. A second later, Clarke stood, grabbing her cup and the vodka bottle in one hand and pointing toward the kitchen with the other. “All right, I think everyone could probably use food, drinks and a soak in the hot tub. Who’s with me?”

Bellamy was off the couch in an instant, as Raven clapped her hands and threw an arm over the blonde’s should.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about Clarkie!”

The four teens made their way into the kitchen, leaving Miller to stretch and groan on the couch. As soon as they he was alone, Miller ran a hand over his face. He let out a breath that he felt he’d been holding forever, and contemplated the deeply personal conversation he’d just overheard. In the back of his mind, he guiltily contemplated whether or not he should have let Clarke and Lexa know that he’d been awake the whole time, but now it was been to late. He signed, and resolved to say nothing at all, as he rose, made his way into the kitchen.

_______________________________________________

Present…

Miller smiled, downing another glass of water. “Man, I’m thirsty.”

Harper pushed the table’s last glass in his direction, and leaned in, anxious for him to continue. “So what happened next?”

A woman in a tight-fitted, strapless, cream-colored gown wandered over to their table. She smiled, taking a seat in Lincoln’s lap and running a hand over his bald head. “Well, you all look thick as thieves over here. I feel like I’m missing out.” Lincoln wrapped his arms around her waist, and she leaned down, placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

Monty winked at the stunning woman before turning his attention back to his own girlfriend, and offering her a smile. “Octavia, you're actually joining us just in time. We’ve been talking about how those two,” he pointed at the dance floor, “ended up together.” He leaned over in his chair and patted Miller on the shoulder. “Nathan was just telling the story about Columbus day weekend.”

Octavia gazed down at Lincoln, smiling and shaking her head. “Baby, wasn’t that the weekend that my brother found out about us?”

Lincoln groaned, bringing his hand up to his right eyebrow and rubbing it vigorously, as though he’d been wounded. “Yeah, I still have the scar actually.”

Octavia laughed, turning her attention to Harper and rolling her eyes. “That whole weekend was a mess. Wait until you hear what happened after everyone finally got to the lake house.”

With that, Octavia leaned in, and picked up the story where Miller had left off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's hear what you think!
> 
> Reach out to me here, or on Tumblr/Twitter
> 
> Best way to contact me with feedback: twitter.com/insideabunker  
> Tumblr: insideabunker.tumblr.com


	4. Author's Note

Hey everyone,

I have really loved my time on AO3, but in a effort to centralize my work, I am going to be transitioning to Tumblr exclusively over the course of the next week. Until this Sunday, all of my stories will continue to be available here. Don't worry, still I plan to continue all of them, even the ones haven't been updated in a awhile. However, as of this Sunday subsequent updates will only be available on Tumblr. As of Sunday, February 12th, everything will be coming down from my profile on AO3. If you've been reading on here, feel free to follow me on Tumblr at insideabunker.tumblr.com. I am making the switch because I have more control over the look and feel of the stories on Tumblr, and it honestly feels a little more intimate as a platform. However, reviews and comments tend to be sparse over there, so if you are someone who tends to comment on my stories here, please continue to do so there! Nothing is better than feedback from readers! Thanks for everyone who will continue to follow me once I make the switch, and my sincerest apologies to those who won't be able to.

Best,  
insideabunker

**Author's Note:**

> Let's hear what you think!
> 
> Reach out to me here, or on Tumblr/Twitter
> 
> Best way to contact me with feedback: twitter.com/insideabunker  
> Tumblr: insideabunker.tumblr.com


End file.
